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V 


OLD     INNS 


OLD  MANOR  HOUSES 

By  Cecil  Aldin 

With  illustrations  in  Colour  and  Black  and  White 

Crown  jto,  255.  net 

RIGHT  ROYAL 
By  John  Masefield 

Illustrated  in  Colour  and  Black  and  White  by 
Cecil  Aldin 

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REYNARD  THE  FOX 
By  John  Masefield 

Illustrated  in  Colour  and  Black  and  White  by 
G.  D.  Armour 

Crown  ^to,  15s.  net 

HASSAN 

By  J.  E.  Flecker 

Illustrated  in  Colour  and  Black  and  White  by 
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COMUS 

By  John  Milton 

Illustrated  in  Colour  and  Line  Drawing.-,  by 
Arthur  Rackham 

Crown  $to,  25s.  net 

A  DOG  DAY 

By  Cecil  Aldin 

Illustrated  in  Colour 
Sq.  8vo,  2s.  6d.  net 


LONDON  :  WILLIAM  HEINEMANN  LTD 


OLD  INNS 


LONDON;    WILLIAM    HESNEMAMM  LfOo 


First  Published,  October  1921 

New  Impressions,  March  1923,  January  1925 


Printed  in  Great  Britain  by  Eyre  &■  Spottiswoode,  Ltd 


DA 


To 

LORD    WILLOUGHBT  'BE   BROKE 

because  his  ancestor  s  copy  of  "  Patterson  s 

Roads  "  gave  inspiration 

for  this  volume 


v. 


]MS  ®F  DimKSTOKirDSIKBPfi 


In   Colours 


The  George  Inn,  Norton  St.  Philip 

m 

The  George  Inn,  Dorchester 
The  New  Inn,  Gloucester 
The  Spread  Eagle,  Midhurst 
The  Bell  Inn,  Waltham  St.  Law- 
rence 
The  George  Inn,  Salisbury 
The  Golden  Cross,  Oxford 
The  King's  Head,  Chigwell 


The  Angel  Inn,  Woolhampton 
The  Anchor  Inn,  Liphook 
The  Talbot  Inn,  Chaddesley 

Corbet 
The  Lygon  Arms,  Broadway 
The  King's  Head,  Ombersley 
The  Star  Inn,  Alfriston 
The  Mermaid  Inn,  Rye 
The  King's  Head,  Malmesbury 


Black  ftP  White 


Old  Coach  Notice  of  1822 
The  Catherine  Wheel,  Southwark 
Yard  of  the  George   Inn,  Dor- 
chester 
Corner  of  Gallery,  George  Inn, 

Dorchester 
The  Mitre,  Oxford 
The    New    Inn,    Gloucester,     in 
1825 


Court-yard     of     the    New    Inn, 

Gloucester 
The  George  Inn,  Salisbury 
The  George  Inn,  Salisbury 
The  George  Inn,  Salisbury 
Porch    Room    at    The    George, 

Salisbury 
Beams     in     the     Porch     Room, 

George  Inn,  Salisbury 


viii        LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  Page  from  "Patterson's  Roads" 

The  Bell,  Waltham  St.  Lawrence 

The  Bell,  Hurley 

The  Ostrich,  Colnbrook 

King  John's  Palace,  Colnbrook 

The  George  Inn,  Ripley 

The  Grantley  Arms,  Wonersh 

The    King's     Head     (Maypole) 

Chigwell 
The  King's  Head,  Chigwell 
The    Five    Gables,    Shakespear 

Hotel,  Stratford-on-Avon 
The  Bear,  Sandbach 
The  Bear's  Head,  Brereton 
The  Bear's  Head,  Brereton 
The  King's  Arms,  Ombersley 
The  Halfway  House,  Ombersley 
The  Bell  Inn,  Tewkesbury 
Gables  at  Tewkesbury 


Upper  Part  of  the  Berkeley  Arms, 

Tewkesbury 
The  Lygon  Arms,  Broadway 
The  Bull,  Dartford 
The  Chequers  Inn,  Tonbridge 
Chiddingstone 
The  Mermaid,  Rye 
Interior,  The  Mermaid,  Rye 
The  Star  Inn,  Alfriston 
The  Anchor  Inn,  Liphook 
The  Anchor  Inn,  Liphook 
The  Swan,  Tetsworth 
The  King's  Head,  Aylesbury 
The  Bell,  Stilton 
The  George,  Huntingdon 
The       Woolpack,       Huntingdon 

Bridge 
The       White       Horse,       Eaton 

Soccon 


<      L 


7 'ST    '^m^    ^m^.     *3"*CI  *3^£     ^**ET 


y^  y**. 


OLD  INN 


fox  amd  Hocnros 

Bat-ley 


INTRODUCTION 

Whoe'er  has  travelled  life's  dull  round, 
Where'er  his  stages  may  have  been, 
May  sigh  to  think  he  still  has  found 
The  warmest  welcome  at  an  inn. 

(Shenstone.) 


ONCE  upon  a  time  Lt.-Col.  Patterson 
compiled  a  volume. 
This,  as  every  one  knows,  was 
called  "  Patterson's  Roads,1  and  in 
1 83  i  (in  the  18th  edition)  it  was  brought  up 
to  date  by  one  Mr.  Edward  Mogg,  whose  name 
was  so  closely  connected  with  Soapy  Sponge  and 
his  cab  fares.  A 


2  INTRODUCTION 

Mr.  Edward  Mogg  wrote  a  somewhat  wordy 
and  pompous  dedication  to  His  Majesty  King 
George  the  Fourth,  which,  as  it  states  the  con- 
tents of  the  Colonel's  book,  and  also  partly  of 
mine,  and  savours  rather  of  an  after-dinner  alder- 
manic  speech,  I  am  taking  the  liberty  of  quoting, 
in  the  hope  that  it  will  give  my  readers,  at  starting, 
the  necessary  satisfied  atmosphere,  of  being  pleased 
with  themselves,  their  dinner,  and  their  book  : 
It  was  then — 

"  .  .  .  an  enumeration  of  the  antiquities, 
natural  curiosities,  the  splendid  mansions  of  the 
nobility,  rich  in  statuary,  and  decorated  with 
the  choicest  productions  of  foreign  and  native 
artists,  added  to  the  repeated  occurrence  of 
an  enchanting  and  almost  endless  variety  of 
scenery,  are,  taken  in  the  aggregate,  incon- 
testable evidence,  that  this  island  presents  a 
coup-d'oeil  at  once  grand  and  interesting,  and 
of  which  it  may  with  truth  be  averred,  there 
is  no  parallel  in  the  empire  of  any  other 
sovereign. 

"  That  Your  Majesty  may  long  continue  to 


INTRODUCTION  3 

reign  in  the  uninterrupted  exercise  of  your 
royal  prerogative  in  the  enjoyment  of  these 
realms,  and  crowned  with  every  blessing,  is 
the  sincere  prayer  of 

"  Your  Majesty's 

"  Most  humble, 

"  And  most  dutiful  Subject  and  Servant, 

"EDWARD  MOGG." 

That  was  the  contents  of  "Patterson's  Roads"  ; 
but,  besides  all  these  wonderful  descriptions  of  the 
"  splendid  mansions  of  the  nobility,'  etc.,  etc., 
there  was  a  humble  little  list  of  inns  where,  it  was 
stated,  post-horses  could  be  obtained. 

These  inns — at  least,  those  still  in  existence — 
I  have  visited  :  not  with  the  hope  of  obtaining 
post-horses,  but  in  order  to  reproduce  them  as 
far  as  I  am  able  in  the  pages  of  this  book. 


V. 


I 


SOME    OF    THE    LONDON    INNS 


TUCKED  away  between  the  faded 
yellow  pages  of  my  Patterson  I  found 
a  torn  portion  of  an  old  coach 
notice  of  1822,  which,  although  in 
its  first  line  it  may  have  a  tendency  to  shake 
off  the  effect,  which  I  hope  has  been  created 
by  Mr.  Mogg's  after-dinner  speech,  I  cannot, 
even  at  the  expense  of  this,  refrain  from 
reprinting. 


OLD  INNS 


^1 


May  tt*  '*f  '&" 

Six  oeWk  ">  *«  Morniog 

T^e  bwprietor*   of'4etege»cy  coach 
respectfully   inform)  tl>e  (subtle  an<\ 
t^ir  friends    m   particular  tbat 
/ortrjeir    t??cw  perfect  co»ye*/e?>ce 
i*&  to  kee(?  )*ce  V,tb   the,  &*ily 
SmPnyement  »h  traveU jnjj  the 
kour  of    its  U^y.rvg^U  U  altercA 

Six   oV  lock    at»a    donJVV- 


just  an  old  handbill  that  had  been  used  to 
mark  a  place  in  Patterson  by  some  coach 
traveller  ;    but  what  memories  it  recalls  ! 

Memories  of  the  road,  of  long,  low,  homely 
looking  inns — all  bustle  and  excitement  as  the 
coach  pulled  up — of  cheery  coachman  and  musical 
guards,  of  buxom  landladies,  and  of  the  ever-to- 
be-remembered  welcome  of  the  inn  itself. 


SOME  OF  THE  LONDON  INNS        7 

The  oak-panelled  coffee-room,  with  its  cheerful 
log  fire  and  sideboard  groaning  with  joints  of  hot 
and  joints  of  cold,  has  in  most  cases  disappeared, 
for  a  road  traveller  of  to-day  only  seeks  refresh- 
ment after  a  forty  or  fifty  mile  stage.  But  in  the 
coaching  age  we  stopped  at  an  inn  to  change 
horses  and  probably  refresh  every  eight  or  ten  miles. 
.  Truly  in  those  days  to  "  set  out  on  a  journey ' 
was  a  much  more  serious  business,  not  to  be 
undertaken  lightly,  and  it  is  difficult  now  to 
visualize  the  then  vast  importance  of  the  inn  as 
our  forefathers  knew  it. 

The  coaching  days,  however,  were  the  halcyon 
days  of  the  inn — days  when  Boniface  laughed 
and  grew  fat,  and,  in  many  instances,  wealthy 
into   the   bargain. 

We  find  the  old  houses  dotted  along  the  main 
coach  roads,  or  tucked  away  on  what  my  friend 
Patterson  calls  "the  cross  roads  of  the  United 
Kingdom." 

Many  of  these  inns  are  picturesque  in  the 
extreme — some  in  exteriors,  and  some  in  interiors, 
while  others  are  celebrated  in  history  and  fiction. 


8  OLD  INNS 

To  go  deeply  into  the  story  of  even  a  few  of 
these  houses  is  beyond  my  capabilities,  and  I  pro- 
pose only  to  touch  them  all  lightly  as  one  touches 
a  sketch,  but  at  the  same  time  to  endeavour  to 
give  a  little  more  information  than  Mr.  Edward 
Mogg,  who  has  very  little  time  to  waste  on  inns, 
with  his  list  of  "splendid  mansions  of  the  nobility  ' 
to  compile  and  describe,  and  his  intricate  mileage 
measurements  to  record. 

One  can  divide  inns  into  various  classes. 
Those  of  historical  interest,  of  monastic  origin, 
inns  of  fiction,  celebrated  coaching  houses,  and 
those  known  chiefly  by  reason  of  their  quaint  or 
original  signs;  but  the  types,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  traveller  of  to-day,  are  the  old 
galleried  inns  (those  in  London  having  been  the 
termini  of  the  various  mail  and  stage  coaches), 
the  Queen  Anne  and  early  Georgian  type  (build- 
ings generally  on  the  main  arteries  from  London, 
and  used  chiefly  by  the  stage  coaches),  and 
lastly  the  small  picturesque  village  inn,  which,  if 
you  travelled  by  the  slow  stage  wagon  of  the 
eighteenth  century  you  probably  used. 


SOME  OF  THE  LONDON  INNS       9 

Beiiig  the  hub  of  the  wheel  of  the  coaching 
era,  from  which  all  roads  radiated   to   every  part 

of  England,  the  London  galleried-inns  come  first,  inns 

They  were  a  type  by  themselves,  and  from  such  Two^dcs^11 

houses  as  The   Swan  with  Two  Necks,  La  Belle  La  Belie  Sauvage 

Sauvage,  Saracen's   Head,   Bull  and  Mouth,  and  Saracen's  Head 

_.         ^  .     _._,  .  TT  nii  Bull  and  Mouth 

1  he  George,  and  White  Hart  at  Southwark,  The  George 
numerous  coaches  started  during  the  day  and  White  Hart 
night  for  every  part  of  the  kingdom. 

In  this  busy  period  of  inn  history,  most  of  the 
large  inns,  or  "yards,"  as  the  London  houses  were 
often  called,  from  which  the  mails  and  stage 
coaches  started,  were  kept  or  owned  by  people 
who  had  also  big  financial  interests  in  the  coaches 
themselves. 

Chaplin  and  Sherman  were  probably  the  two 
largest   owners  ;    the   former  having  at  one  time    The  Spread 
The  Spread  Eagle  and  Cross  Keys,  Gracechurch    ^agle 

1  °  *       .  .  Cross  Keys 

Street,  The  Swan  with  Two  Necks  in  Lad  Lane,    The  Swan  with 
The  White    Horse    in    Fetter  Lane,    and    The    TwoJ^aL 

1  The  White  Horse 

Angel,    St.   Clement    Danes,   at   the  same   time    The  Angel, 
being    the     owner    of    some     1300    horses    at    Qai^ment 
work  in  the  mails.      Sherman  had  the  Bull  and    Bull  and  Mouth 


IO 


OLD  INNS 


The  Spread 
Eagle 

Bull  Inn, 
Aldgate 


The  Saracen's 
Head,  Snow  Hill 


The  Peacock  at 
Islington 

The  White  Horse 
Cellars  in 
Piccadilly 

Gloucester 
Coffee  House 


Mouth,  in  St.  Martin  le  Grand,  and  other  inns, 
besides  about  750  horses  at  work  in  the  coaches, 
and  there  are  also  many  other  names  long 
since  forgotten. 

Then  there  were  two  very  well-known 
owners  of  the  gentler  sex.  Mrs.  Nelson,  whose 
family  was  intimately  connected  with  coaching, 
owned  The  Spread  Eagle  in  Gracechurch 
Street  (sold  to  her  by  Chaplin)  and  the  Bull 
Inn,  Aldgate.  She  was  also  a  large  proprietor 
of  short  stage  coaches — her  descendants  sub. 
sequently  owned  the  well-known  Favourite 
omnibuses. 

Mrs.  Mountain,  of  The  Saracen's  Head, 
Snow  Hill,  had  also  a  large  interest  in  coaching, 
and  many  of  her  family  were  closely  connected 
with  it. 

All  coaches  for  the  Northern  roads  stopped  at 
The  Peacock  at  Islington,  another  very  well- 
known  house,  which  might  be  placed  in  the 
same  category  as  The  White  Horse  Cellars 
in  Piccadilly  (now  the  Berkeley  Hotel),  and 
the    Gloucester    Coffee    House,    where    all    the 


SOME  OF  THE  LONDON   INNS      n 

Western  mails  stopped.  The  vast  Piccadilly 
Hotel  is  now  standing  on  the  ashes  of  the  latter 
building. 

Lord  William  Pitt  Lennox  gives  the  following 
description  of  the  scene  at  "  The  White  Horse' 
Cellars  as  he  remembers  it  in  1830  ; — 

"  Few  sights  were  more  amusing  than  l  The 
White  Horse'  Cellars  in  Piccadilly,  in  the  old 
times  of  coaching.  What  a  confusion — what  a 
babel  of  tongues  !  The  tumult,  the  noise,  was 
worthy  the  pen  of  a  Boz,  or  the  pencil  of 
Cruikshank.  People  hurrying  hither  and  thither, 
some  who  had  come  too  soon,  others  too  late. 
There  were  carriages,  hackney  coaches,  vans, 
carts,  and  barrows  ;  porters  jostling,  cads  elbowing, 
coachmen  wrangling,  passengers  grumbling,  men 
pushing,  women  scolding. 

"  Trunks,  portmanteaux,  hat  boxes,  band- 
boxes, strewed  the  pavement ;  orange  mer- 
chants, cigar  merchants,  umbrella  merchants,  dog 
merchants,  sponge  merchants,  proclaiming  the 
superiority  of  their  various  wares  ;  pocket  knives 
with     ten     blades,    a    corkscrew,     button-hook, 


12  OLD  INNS 

punch,  picker,  lancet,  gimlet,  gun  screw,  and  a 
saw ;  trouser  straps  four  pairs  a  shilling ;  bandana 
handkerchiefs,  that  had  never  seen  foreign  parts, 
to  be  given  away  for  an  old  hat ;  London  sparrows, 
as  the  coach-makers  would  say  '  yellow  bodies,' 
were  passed  off  as  canaries,  though  their  c  wood 
notes  wild '  had  never  been  heard  out  of  the 
sound  of  Bow  Bells.  Ill-shaven  curs,  c  shaven 
and  shorn  '  and  looking  like  the  priest  in  the 
childe  story,  '  all  forlorn,'  painted  and  powdered 
and  decked  with  blue  ribbons,  assumed  the  form 
of  French  poodles  who  '  did  everything  but 
speak.'  Members  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion 
of  Knowledge  were  hawking  literature  at  the 
lowest  rate  imaginable.  H'annuals  at  the  small 
charge  of  one  shilling ;  the  h'engravings  to 
h'any  h'amateur  worth  double  the  money  :  the 
(  Prophetic  Almanac,'  neatly  bound,  one  penny  ; 
'  a  yard  and  a  half  of  songs '  for  a  halfpenny  ; 
and  i  Larks  in  London,'  pictorially  illustrated, 
for  one  shilling.  The  remainder  of  the  group 
consisting  of  perambulating  piemen,  coachmen 
out  of  a  place,  country  clods,  town  cads,  gaping, 


SOME   OF  THE   LONDON   INNS      13 

talking,*  wondering,  the  din  occasionally  inter- 
rupted by  a  street  serenade,  the  trampling  of 
cattle,  or  the  music  of  a  guard's  horn." 

Interesting  reading — but  whatever  stage-coach 
passengers  could  have  wanted  with  dog  merchants 
or  "  canaries  or  a  yard  and  a  half  of  songs  when 
setting  out  on  a  journey  it  is  difficult  to  imagine, 
although  one  reads  that  some  of  the  guards  had 
very  fine  voices  and  beguiled  the  stages  by  giving 
the  passengers  specimens  of  their  vocal  skill. 
Rugs  and  extra  overcoats  would,  I  should  have 
thought,  been  more  saleable  wares. 

The  Inns  mentioned  above  were  some  of  the 
principal  London  houses,  in  which  list  should  also 
be  included    those   of    the   Borough    and    South- 
wark— The  Tabard,   The   George,    White   Hart,    The  Tabard 
King's  Head  and   Queen's   Head,  The   Bell,  and    whiteffcft 
Catherine  Wheel,  all  galleried  inns.  King's  Head 

Chaplin's  house,  The  Swan  with  Two  Necks,    Queen  s  Head 

L    LI         Li  r      11      L  •  a  The  Bell 

was  probably  the  largest  of  all  these  inns.      Ac-    Catherine  Wheel 
cording:  to  old  prints  available   for   reference,  its    The  Swan  with 

r  Two  Necks 

entrance  archway  was  big  and  high   enough  for 
two  coaches  piled  one  on  the  top  of  the  other  to 


H 


OLD   INNS 


BRI^^BI 


;^"^S*3*K 


THE   CATHERINE    WHEEL, 
SOL'THWARK 


SOME  OF  THE   LONDON  INNS     15 

pass   through,  with    no   necessity  for  the   worthy 
Jingle's  warning  to  "  mind  your  heads.' 

Sporting  artists  of  those  days,  however,  did 
not  always  get  their  proportions  quite  accurately, 
and,  from  other  "  information  received,'  as  the 
policemen  say,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  inn 
was  quite  as  big  as  depicted.  Allowing  for  this, 
it  must  have  had  an  enormous  number  of  bed- 
rooms, and  general  accommodation,  surrounding  its 
spacious  yard — a  real  caravanserai  of  the  road. 

The  most  picturesque  and  certainly  the  oldest 
was  The  Tabard,  at  Southwark ;  and  although 
in  the  coaching  days  more  used  by  the  slow  stage- 
wagons  than  by  the  fashionable  coaches,  it  had  a 
previous  history  of  very  great  interest. 

The    Tabard    was    finally    pulled    down    in    The  Tabard 
1875  to  make  room  for  modern  improvements, 
and  a  great  outcry  was  made  at  the  time  against 
this  act  of  vandalism. 

The  chief  argument  used  by  the  "  preservists ' 
was  its   close   connexion   with  Chaucer  and    the 
Canterbury  Tales. 

The   building,  however,  as   it   stood  in   1875, 


The  White  Hart 


The  George 


The  Spread 
Eagle 

Bull  and  Mouth 

White  Hart 

Swan  with  Two 
Necks 


1 6  OLD  INNS 

was  not  the  Chaucer  Inn  of  1388,  as  it  is  on 
record  that  the  original  inn  was  either  pulled 
down  or  destroyed  by  fire  in  1628. 

It  is  believed,  however,  that  the  second  plan 
remained  the- same,  and  after  later  vicissitudes  the 
inn  was  finally  pulled  down  in  1875. 

The  White  Hart  was  another  very  fine 
galleried  inn— and  one  which  Dickens  immortalized 
in  the  "  Pickwick  Papers'  as  the  place  where 
Sam  Weller  first  met  Mr.  Pickwick. 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  of  this  long  list  of  old 
London  Inns  only  a  section  of  The  George, 
in  the  Borough,  remains  standing  to-day. 

The  Spread  Eagle,  Bull  and  Mouth,  White 
Hart,  Swan  with  Two  Necks,  all  are  gone  with 
their  yards  and  galleries  and  everything  pertaining 
to  them. 

Their  plan  and  style  of  architecture  was 
peculiarly  their  own,  and  in  their  place  we  now 
find  only  ugly  shops  and  picture-palaces.  Truly 
we  are  a  nation  of  shopkeepers  ! 

Sic  transit  gloria  mundi. 


II 


THE    COUNTRY    INNS 

FTER  the  somewhat  cursory  glance 
at  a  few  of  the  old  inns  in  London, 
of  which  a  very  small  amount  of 
pictorial  material  is  available,  it  is 
a  relief  to  find  so  large  a  number  of  fine  old 
houses  still  unspoilt  in  the  country. 

Where  London  inns  have  withered  and  fallen, 
those  in  the  country  have  survived  ;  and  although 
the  tide  of  prosperity  receded  from  them  for 
many  years,  the  advent  of  the  motor  at  once 
made  a  considerable  improvement  in  their  trade. 

As  the  motor-car  improved  in  reliability,  so 
the  country-inn  trade  began  to  revive,  until  at 
the  present  day  it  shows  a  possibility  of  reaching 
again  the  high-water  mark  of  the  coaching  age. 

Maybe  it  may  even  rise  as  high  as  the  flood 
mark   mentioned   by  Patterson   when   he  says  in 


1 8  OLD  INNS 

his  description  of  Southam  in  Warwickshire 
and  of  many  other  towns  in  his  invaluable  work  : 
"  The  market  day  is  held  on  Mondays,  but  the 
chief  support  of  the  inhabitants  is  derived  from 
the  expenditure  of  travellers  who  pass  through 
the  town." 

It  is  not,  however,  of  the  trade  of  the  inn  that 
we  propose  to  treat,  but  of  the  beauty  of  these  old 
houses.  Prosperity,  sometimes,  brings  in  its  train 
thoughts  of  paint,  and  the  advice  of  the  local 
builder  on  the  question  of  repairs  ;  and  herein  is 
the  great  danger  that  threatens  the  old  inn  in  the 
future. 

A  village  builder  may  be  a  most  worthy 
individual,  but  as  a  rule  he  prefers  what  he  calls 
"a  nice  square  'ouse,"  and  his  feeling  tor  the 
beauty  of  these  old  buildings  is  small. 

Mayhap  he  has  a  considerable  stock  of  bright 
green  or  other  vivid  paint  on  hand,  which  he,  of 
course,  strongly  advises  as  a  colour  to  brighten 
up  the  building  ;  with  the  result  that  for  the 
next  few  years  your  venerable  old  grandmother 
of  an  inn  is  decked  out  like  a  chorus  girl,   and 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  19 

v. 

becomes  an  eyesore  to  all  her  late  admirers.  In 
this  matter  of  paint  even  certain  Trust  Societies 
have  been  known  to  be  offenders. 

The  moral  of  this  is  that  where  paint  and 
additions  are  necessary,  owing  to  increased  trade, 
landlords  should  be  advised  to  take  the  greatest 
care  in  selection  of  colours  and  design,  in  order 
(if  they  have  an  old  house)  not  to  kill  the  goose 
that  brings  the  golden  egg. 

With  this  little  foreword  of  advice,  not  made 
without  due  thought,  and  serious  cause  in  a 
number  of  cases,  we  will  once  more  return  to 
Mr.  Edward  Mogg  and  consult  his  invaluable 
volume  {nee  Patterson)  for  our  first  ramble  in 
inn-land. 

If  we  open  him  at  page  126  we  find  he  gives 
the  mail  route  from  London  to  Gloucester,  through 
Dorchester  (Oxon),  Abingdon,  Faringdon, 
Fairford,  Cirencester,  Birlip,  finally  arriving  at 
Gloucester ;  one  hundred  and  seven  and  one 
quarter  miles,  he  makes  it,  from  Hyde  Park  Corner. 

Now,  although  Gloucester,  and  that  gem  of 
inns,  The  New  Inn,  is  our  destination,  there  are    The  New  inn 


20  OLD  INNS 

many  old  and  picturesque  houses  that  meet  us  on 

the   way  before   we  finish  the  one  hundred  and 

seven  and  one  quarter  miles. 

The  George,  Of    these,     perhaps     The     George    at     Dor- 

Dorchester  .  /—.  x    .  r    -, 

Chester  (Oxonj  is  one  or  the  most  interesting. 

Here  we  shall  make  our  first  change,  forty- 
nine  and  one  quarter  miles  out  of  London 
(Patterson),  in  the  shape  of  a  fresh  team,  probably 
contained  in  a  petroleum  can.  This  will  give 
us  at  the  same  time  an  opportunity  of  looking 
at  The  George. 

As  an  inn  its  chief  beauty  is  inside.  That  is 
to  say,  inside  the  yard,  although  its  bar  may  have 
unknown  attractions  of  which  we  do  not  treat. 

This  yard  has  always  had  a  great  fascination 
for  artists  ;  the  late  Byam  Shaw,  A.R.A.,  used  it 
as  a  setting  for  his  picture  of  the  Canterbury 
pilgrims,  and  Dendy  Sadler  knows  it  well  ;  besides 
hosts  of  other  wielders  of  the  brush  and  pencil. 

The  George  is  not  "  pretty '  in  the  sense 
an  artist  uses  the  word,  and  that  is  its  charm. 

Real  beauty — not  prettiness — in  lines  and 
colour  constitutes  its  chief  feature,  and  as  you  come 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


21 


YARD  OF  THE 
GEORGE  INN, 
DORCHESTER 


J 


m 


^c 


22  OLD   INNS 

round  the  bend  of  the  winding  street  of  Dorchester 
it  always  strikes  you  when  at  a  little  distance  as  the 
inn,  in  the  right  position  in  the  village  for  an  inn, 
an  old  one  ;  and  finally,  as  you  pull  up  in  front 
of  it,  its  overhanging  gables,  gated  archwav,  and 
yard  beyond,  impresses  upon  you  the  fact  that  it 
is  a  very  fine  old  inn. 

That  is  how  it  has  always  appealed  to  me 
since  our  first  introduction  twenty  years  ago. 
At  least,  that  coupled  with  the  delightful  old 
landlord's  habit  of  using  two  abominable  swear- 
words all  day  and  every  day. 

It  was  an  incurable  habit  ;  but,  after  two 
minutes'  conversation  with  him,  his  bitterest 
enemy,  if  he  ever  had  one,  could  only  take  the 
words  as  terms  of  endearment. 

He  would  speak  to  his  guests,  and  two  married 
sisters  who  kept  house  for  him,  in  exactly  the 
same  kindly  way,  every  sentence  being  plentifully 
sprinkled  with  his  two  strongest  of  strong  adjectives. 

He  had  only  two  swear- words  in  his  whole  voca- 
bulary, but  these  two  words  appeared  every  time 
he  opened  his  mouth,  in  season  and  out  :    when 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  23 

thanking  you  for  your  patronage,  or  when  talking  in 
terms  of  affection  to  his  sisters  and  friends,  and  he 
would  no  doubt  have  been  highly  astonished  had 
anyone  rebuked  him  for  using  bad  language,  of 
which  he  was  totally  and  really  unconscious. 

But  this  is  twenty  years  ago,  and  he  may 
have  been  gathered  to  his  forefathers  in  the 
beautiful  churchyard  opposite  long  ere  this  is 
written,  where  I  feel  sure  his  habit  will  be  judged 
by  what  he  did,  rather  than  by  this  colloquial 
eccentricity. 

This,  however,  is  a  by-path. 

In  the  yard  of  The  George  the  gallery  and  The  George 
staircase  are  still  to  be  seen — now,  alas  !  long 
since  passed  into  decay.  The  bad  times  on  the 
coming  of  railways  were  evidently  too  much  for 
the  old  house  to  weather,  and  at  that  period  its 
stables  and  coach-houses  stood  empty. 

Now  that  motoring  has  come  to  revive  its 
business  it  seems  hardly  to  have  enough  energy 
left  to  grasp  it,  having  become  a  small  village 
inn  used  by  the  villagers  themselves,  with  only 
occasional  visits  from  strangers  ;   and  as  such  we 


24  OLD   INNS 

must  leave  it  to  live  on  its  memories  of  horse- 
drawn  wheel  traffic — its  memories  of  the  long 
continuous  daily  stream  of  coaches,  mails,  post- 
chaises,  and  travelling  chariots  passing  through 
the  winding  street  of  Dorchester  for  Oxford  or 
London. 

Somehow  or  other  one  cannot  help  thinking 
of  these  old  houses  as  if  they  were  animate 
beings — as  if  they  had  thoughts  and  memories 
which  depress  them  when  the  glory  and  bustle 
of  their  heyday  has  departed. 

We  are  still,  however,  only  forty-seven  and 
one  quarter  miles  (I  always  like  Patterson's 
quarter-mile  measurements)  from  London,  and 
as  we  have  many  hundreds  of  miles  to  travel  in 
search  of  old  inns  we  must  dream  and  dawdle 
no  longer  in  the  village. 

Just  outside  Dorchester  the  road  forks  right 
and  left — the  left-hand  road  goes  to  Abingdon 
and  the  right  to  Oxford.  Patterson's  direction 
is  plainly  the  left-hand  road,  but  the  temptation 
of  Oxford,  as  it  is  only  nine  miles,  is  too  great. 
Thrusting    down     the     accelerator,    or    opening 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


2S 


CORNER  OF 
GALLERY, 
GEORGE    INN, 
DORCHESTER 


26 


OLD   INNS 


THE   MITRE, 
OXFORD 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  27 

the  throttle — whichever  is  the  correctly  horrible 
expression — we  miss  the  Abingdon  turning  by  a 
hair's  breadth,  and  are  well  on  the  way  to  Oxford 
before  our  conveyance  can  be  stopped  and  a  return 
can  be  thought  of. 

To  make  a  journey  to  Oxford,  of  all  places,  in 
search  of  an  inn  is  probably  a  thing  unheard  of 
in  its  annals.  Still,  with  due  and  humble  respect 
to  its  other  and  infinitely  more  important  features 
and  associations,  that  is  what  we  propose 
to   do. 

There  are  many  inns  in  Oxford,  but  the  two 
that  interest  us  most  are  The  Golden  Cross  and    The  Golden 
The   Mitre.       The    former   is    difficult    to    find,    The  Mitre 
having  no  frontage,  and   only  a   coach   archway 
into  its  yard. 

To  habitu6s  of  the  town  it  is  of  course  well 
known,  but  to  the  casual  visitor  its  entrance  may 
be  easily  passed  by  unnoticed. 

When  one  has  gone  under  the  entrance  arch 
one  finds  oneself  in  the  yard.  It  has  many 
features  of  interest  ;  the  Tudor  upper  windows 
especially,  on  the  right  as  you  look  back  towards 


28  OLD   INNS 

the  street,  being  particularly  interesting.  On 
the  opposite  side  you  enter  the  panelled  coffee- 
room,  which  alone  is  worth  a  visit,  hung  as  it 
is  with  old  prints  of  bygone  Oxford  celebrities. 
A  cosy  little  coffee-room  this,  that  at  once 
suggests  coaching  times  and  surroundings. 

The  Mitre  is  one  of  the  Hotels  where  the 
American  nation  goes  when  it  does  its  annual 
dash  through  Europe.  Apropos  of  this  comes 
the  story  told  me  by  a  former  landlord  of  The 
Clarendon  in  Oxford. 

One  day  during  this  rush,  he  received  the 
following  telegram  handed  in  at  Stratford-on- 
Avon. 

"  Please  have  lunch  for  six  ready  at  one 
o'clock,  get  keys  of  University  12.15. 

"  Silas  K " 

Allowing,  as  you  will  see,  three  quarters  of  an 
hour  to  "  do  '  Oxford — provided  the  landlord 
had  the  keys  ready. 

That,  however,  was  in  the  early  days  when 
America  first  began  coming  to  the  Old  Country 


THE    COUNTRY    INNS  29 

and  "doing"  Europe.  They  had  so  much  to 
see  and  so  little  time  to  see  it  in  that  a  considerable 
hustle  was  necessary.  Now  they  have  seen  most 
things,  and  can,  and  do,  take  a  little  more  time 
in  exploring  England. 

As  far  as  inns  are  concerned  I  am  sorry  they 
ever  came,  for  they  took  to  America,  lock,  stock 
and  barrel,  one  of  the  finest  inn  rooms  we  had, 
the  room  from  The  Reindeer  at  Banbury,  known  The  Reindeer 
as  the  "  Globe"  room.  All  we  have  left  of  it  I 
believe  is  a  replica  of  its  ceiling  now  in  the  South 
Kensington  Museum. 

It  seems  to  take  a  long  while  to  get  away 
from  The  Mitre,  but  as  we  still  have  about  60 
miles  to  Gloucester  we  must  once  more  get  on 
the  road,  as  inns  and  not  the  architectural 
delights  of  Oxford  are  to  be  our  theme. 

Abingdon,  our  next  halt,  has  a  very  quaint  old 
house  just  over  the  bridge  as  you  enter  the  town 
with  a  yard  paved  with  what  has  been  described 
as  "  petrified  kidneys." 

Petrified  kidney  yards,  although  most  uncom- 
fortable  to   walk   on,  are  a   great   adjunct  to  the 


3o  OLD  INNS 

picturesqueness  of  ancient  buildings,  but  how 
the  gouty  frequenters  of  these  old  inns  could 
have  stood  this  type  of  paving  for  so  many  years 
is  astonishing.  Yards  and  roads  however  of  this 
type  were  in  every  town,  London  itself  having 
all  its  main  streets  paved  with  them.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  they  were  mostly  of  the 
kidney  variety,  but  during  the  coaching  period 
oblong  and  square  cobbles  were  chiefly  used. 

If  you  want  to  see  an  old  inn  at  its  best,  the 
half-light  of  dusk,  when  its  cruder  newnesses  are 
softened  down,  is  the  best  time  to  make  your 
first  bow  to  it.  That  is  the  time  I  always  try  to 
arrive  at  one  of  my  inns,  and  this  is  the  time  we 
The  New  inn       will  arrive  at  the  New  Inn,  Gloucester.    New  but 

in  name,  it  has  a  most  interesting  history,  but 
this  we  will  postpone  until  after  we  have 
dined  and  refreshed  the  inner  man  after  our 
dusty  journey. 


V 


III 

HAVING  dined,  let  us  hope,  well,  and 
finished  up  with  the  cook's  master- 
piece (no  French  "  Chester  "  chef 
here)  of  hot  lemon  cheese-cakes — 
cheese-cakes  that  have  that  pleasant  backchat  of 
lemon  that  makes  you  think  of  what  liqueur  you 
will  take  with  your  coffee — you  will  be  in  a  fit 
state  to  read,  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest  a 
short  resume  of  the  past  history  of  The  New  Inn 
itself. 

Everything  should  come  in  its  right  place,  and 
that  much  advertised  "  sleepy  feeling  after  meals' 
we    do    not    so    much    object    to,   a    little    inn 
history  may  help  digestion. 

John  Twining  was  a  monk  of  the  Abbey  of 
St.  Peter,  and  about  a.d.  1456  he  built  this  new 
inn,   chiefly   to   accommodate   the   pilgrims   who 


32 


OLD  INNS 


thronged  to  Gloucester  town  to  the  shrine  of  the 
murdered  Edward  II  in  Gloucester  Cathedral. 

Originally,  therefore,  it  was  the  property  of 
the  monastery.  Before  John  Twining  built  his 
house  another  inn,  then  found  too  small  for  the 


THE  NEW   INN, 
GLOUCESTER, 
IN   1825 


THE    COUNTRY    INNS  33 

number  v  of  pilgrims  attending  the  shrine,  stood 
on  its  site,  and  from  where  this  smaller  hostel 
stood  The  New  Inn  arose,  it  being  a  new  inn 
in  1456.  A  very  interesting  old  print  by 
W.  C.  Bartlett,  dated  1830,  is  the  only  one  I 
have  been  able  to  discover,  but  it  shows  the 
opposite  end  of  the  yard  to  that  of  my  sketch. 
To-day  all  the  half-timber  work  shown  in  the 
Bartlett  print  has  been  covered  up  with  plaster, 
much  to  the  detriment  of  the  beauty  of  the  inn, 
and  slates  have  replaced  the  old  grey  tiles.  Al- 
though the  staircase  from  the  gallery  has  been 
altered  (but  why,  oh,  why  put  an  iron  balustrade 
when  it  should  obviously  have  been  a  heavy 
wooden  one  ?)  the  gables  and  general  elevation 
are  practically  the  same. 

The  heavv  beams  are  of  chestnut  and  oak, 
and  are,  of  course,  those  belonging  to  the  original 
structure. 

In  this  yard  in  the  Tudor  period  troupes  of 
strolling  players  would  perform  in  the  evening 
for  the  amusement  of  the  travellers,  and  what  a 
setting  it  must  have  been  for  these  performances. 


34  OLD  INNS 

As  one  stands  in  the  gallery  one  can  picture  the 
whole  scene — the  motley  players  on  the  flags 
below— declaiming  lustily  to  the  occupants  of  the 
surrounding  gallery,  while  around  them  are 
grouped  ostlers  and  serving  maids,  and  all  the 
flotsam  and  jetsam  of  a  large  inn. 

Until  a  few  years  ago  The  New  Inn  was  the 
property  of  the  Cathedral  authorities,  but  when 
monasteries  were  abolished  in  1855  it  was 
handed  over  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Commission, 
thus  sustaining  its  monastic  origin  until  almost 
the  present  day. 

Now,  like  The  Golden  Cross  at  Oxford,  it  has 
no  front — only  the  archway  entrance  to  its  yard 
squeezed  in  between  shops.  In  the  bar,  however, 
is  an  old  picture  which,  it  is  maintained,  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  front  as  it  was  300  years  ago. 
If  it  is,  it  is  a  very  bad  painting  of  it.  For  two 
days  I  searched  through  Gloucester  Library  trying 
to  discover  some  old  print  of  the  town  which 
included  The  New  Inn.  All  that  could  be  found, 
however,  is  the  one  I  reproduce,  by  Bartlett. 

Over  the  bar,  and  reached  by  mounting  into 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


35 


COURT-YARD  OF   THE 
NEW   INN,   GLOUCESTER 


the  gallery,  is  an  oak  panelled  room  which  is 
worthy  of  a  visit  as  it  has  some  features  of 
interest. 

In  New  Inn  Lane  is  a  beautifully  carved  angle 
post  where  the  words  Salve  ^  Salve — for  the  coming 
guest — and  Benedicite — for  those  departing — can 
be  plainly  distinguished. 

In  all  probability  an  entrance  to  the  inn  was  at 


3  6  OLD  INNS 

this  spot.  New  Inn  Lane  being  previously  known 
as  Pilgrims  Lane. 

The  chief  drawback  at  the  present  day  to  the 
New  Inn  is  its  gaudy  collection  of  globular 
"art"  pots — to  be  found  in  large  numbers  in 
the  gallery  round  the  yard — and  its  large  collection 
of  bamboo  hat-stands.  Now  an  "  art '  pot  of 
crude  colouring  may  be  very  nice  in  the  Tottenham 
Court  Road,  but  in  The  New  Inn,  Gloucester,  it  is 
certainly  overdone. 

The  very  fine  Virginia  creeper  might  also  be  con- 
siderably curtailed  in  its  wanderings  over  the  face 
of  the  building,  however  beautiful  in  colour  it  may 
be  for  a  week  or  two  in  the  autumn,  as  at  present 
during  the  summer  months  much  of  the  beautiful 
chestnut  and  oak  timber  work  is  hidden — careful 
lopping  and  trimming  would  save  all  this,  especially 
if  we  remember  that  there  are  so  many  beautiful 
Virginia  creepers  in  England  but  very  few  old 
houses  that  contain  the  mediaeval  features  of  this 
New  Inn.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  my  drawing 
was  made  during  the  winter  months  when  the 
creeper  is  not  so  much  in  evidence. 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  37 

v. 

From  Gloucester  to  Malmesbury  is  but  a  matter 
of  28  miles  ;  and  at  Malmesbury  we  find  a 
rather  different  type  to  that  of  The  New  Inn  at 
Gloucester. 

The  King's  Arms  at  Malmesbury  is  rather  The  King's 
typical  of  the  inn  of  the  small  country  town  ;  not  Malmesbury 
perhaps  particularly  picturesque — but  with  its  arch- 
way entrance  and  yard  is  very  characteristic  of 
its  class,  a  class  whose  yard  is  full  to  overflowing 
on  market  days,  but  quiet,  even  to  dullness,  on 
the  other  days  of  the  week. 

The  King's  Arms  had,  a  few  years  ago,  a  rather 
celebrated  landlord  on  account  of  his  always  dress- 
ing the  part  of  the  old-time  Boniface  ;  stock,  white 
top-hat,  and  long  coaching  coat,  etc.,  reminding 
one  of  Bransby  Williams  or  George  Belcher  the 
artist,  both  of  whom  always  look  as  if  they  should 
belong  to  the  early  part  of  the  19th  century. 

At  Malmesbury  we  have  the  open-air  larder ; 
sides  of  bacon,  hams,  and  poultry  hanging  above 
the  guest's  head  as  he  enters  the  inn's  hospitable 
porch,  just  to  give  one  a  hint  of  the  good  things 
to  be  found  within. 


3  8  OLD  INNS 

Somehow  or  other  one  always  feels  hanging 
out  the  joints  for  all  and  sundry  to  see  is  such  a 
good  advertisement  for  the  inn's  hospitality. 

There  should  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  a  good 
meal  at  any  rate,  with  such  an  array  outside  in 
the  entrance.  Possibly  the  advertisement  may 
have  been  the  origin  of  the  idea,  coupled  with 
the  nice  healthy  draught  which  blows  continuously 
on  the  joints  down  the  covered  entrance  way. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  we  must  once  more  take 
the  road,  this  time  to  the  village  of  Norton 
St.  Philip — with  its  nice  old-world  name — seven 
miles  outside  Bath  according  to  Patterson,  and 
on  the  Warminster-Salisbury  road. 
The  George,  Tn   tne    villap;e   of  Norton    St.    Philip    is   The 

Norton  St.  O  r 

Philip  George  Inn,  another  gem,  although   a   rather  ill- 

preserved  and  dilapidated  one. 

Here  we  go  back  again  to  the  14th  century, 
as  it  is  on  record  that  a  licence  was  first  granted 
to  this  house,  as  an  ale-house,  at  that  time. 
Another  of  the  inns  of  monastic  origin,  like  The 
New  Inn  at  Gloucester. 

Built   by  the  monks  at  Hinton  Charterhouse 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  39 

in  order  to  provide  accommodation  for  the 
merchants  who  attended  the  linen  fairs  held  in 
the  neighbourhood,  it  has  stood  the  stress  of 
many  centuries.  To-day  it  is  very  much  the 
same  as  it  was  even  in  1638,  when,  in  an  old 
charter,  it  was  described  as  "  an  ancient  and 
common  inn  called  by  the  name  of  the  George," 
and  when  its  rental  value  was  "  53  shillings  and 
four  pence  per  annum." 

That  is  what  it  is  to-day,  "  an  ancient  and 
common  inn,"  although  its  rental  value  is  probably 
considerably  more  than  5  3  shillings  and  four  pence 
per  annum.  At  the  same  time  one  cannot  help 
wondering  if  the  owners  appreciate  what  a 
beautiful  old  house  it  is. 

A  little  renovation — preservation  if  you  like — 
would  save  its  back  portions,  at  any  rate,  from 
falling  into  irreparable  decay. 

At  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Sedgemoor,  which 
was  fought  close  by,  the  old  inn's  great  historical 
event  occurred.  At  least  this  is  the  event  by 
which  most  people  know  the  house,  and  the  one 
which  has  been  handed  down  since  1685,  and  is 


4-o  OLD   INNS 

now  fully  and  vividly  explained  to  you  by  the  land- 
lord when  you  are  looking  over  the  building. 
So  vividly  that  vou  feel  he  must  have  been  an  eye- 
witness of  the  event. 

In  that  year  then,  1685,  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth, who  was  standing  at  an  upper  window  of 
The  George,  was  shot  at  from  the  street  below, 
so  our  landlord  tells  us.  Luckily  his  assailant 
was  not  a  good  shot  (or  unluckily,  perhaps,  for 
the  Duke,  as  he  was  beheaded  on  July  15th, 
1685,  and  this  might  have  saved  him  a  lot  of 
trouble).  However  his  assailant  missed  him, 
failing  to  get  the  bull's-eye  he  was  after — 
the  money  then  set  on  Monmouth's  head,  dead 
or  alive. 

Which  all  seems  rather  suggestive  of  shooting 
at  a  sitting  rabbit  for  the  sake  of  the  few  pence 
set  on  its  skin. 

Then  we  have  the  irrepressible  Samuel  Pepys, 
who  writes  of  the  inn — "  having  dined  very  well 
for  ten  shillings  we  came   before   night  to  Bath.'1 

Just  what  I  wished  to  do  when  I  was  at  Norton 
St.  Philip,  but  which  I  regret  is  impossible  to-day, 


THE    COUNTRY    INNS  41 

as  most  of  the  old  rooms  are  empty  and  liquid 
refreshment  is  all  that  is  procurable. 

Through  the  Gothic  porchway  one  comes  to 
the  galleried  yard  behind  the  house,  which  obvi- 
ously was  built  for  riding  and  packhorse  stabling 
only,  as  no  wheeled  traffic  could  possibly  get 
through  its  narrow  entrance. 

Over  the  stables  around  this  miniature  yard  are 
the  servants'  rooms,  leading  out  from  the  gallerv. 
From  the  earliest  times  the  plan  of  these  inns 
seems  to  have  always  been  the  same.  A  quad- 
rangular yard,  on  one  side  of  which  was  the  main 
building  which  fronted  the  road,  or  track  as  it 
was  then,  and  which  was  approached  through  a 
covered  archway  in  the  centre  of  the  inn  itself. 

In  the  days  before  wheeled  traffic  was  able  to 
be  used  outside  the  cobbled  towns,  owing  to  the 
bad  roads,  these  archways  were  much  smaller 
than  at  later  periods,  but  the  plan  of  most  inns  is 
founded  on  the  primitive-man  zareba,  having  a 
protective  surround  whether  it  be  of  brushwood 
or  permanent  building,  with  humans  and  animals 
in  the  centre. 


42  OLD  INNS 

At  The  George  we  still  find  "  a  faire  loft  where 
the  Lynnen  cloth  is  sold  at  the  Fair  tymes,"  as 
all  the  top  floor  is  one  huge  room,  having,  like 
so  many  of  these  old  houses,  the  remains  of  a 
secret  staircase  behind  the  panelling,  leading  down 
to  what  is  now  the  tap  room. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  inns  which  has  not  been 
really  "  discovered."  As  a  traders'  inn  it  began, 
and  so  more  or  less  it  has  remained.  Even  the 
coaching  era  of  the  early  part  of  the  1 9th  century 
did  not  apparently  make  much  difference  to  its 
importance. 

Although  a  very  large  building  of  three  stories, 
it  is  to-day  just  the  village  inn  of  Norton  St. 
Philip,  where  a  small  fee  is  charged  to  visitors 
to  see  over  its  vast  closed  and  empty  rooms,  and 
wander  up  its  circular  stone  staircase.  Happily, 
however,  it  is  known  to  comparatively  few,  and 
is  completely  unspoilt  with  modern  renovations 
or  additions. 

At  the  village  shop  opposite,  a  tired  looking 
picture  post-card  of  it  was  exhibited  in  the 
window.    Wondering  if  many  people  came  to  see 


THE   COUNTRY   INNS 


43 


the  inn,  I  made  the  inquiry  of  the  owner  of  the 
shop.  Alas,  my  fondly  imagined  hopes  that  it 
was  not  overrun  with  trippers  were  sadly  dashed 
to  the  ground  by  the  lady. 

"  Many  people  come  to  see  it  ?  "  said  she 
with  scorn  at  my  ignorance.  u  Why,  I  have  sold 
as  many  as  six  of  these  post-cards  in  a  week  in 
the  season  " — adding  as  an  afterthought — "  I 
should  think  everyone  in  the  world  must  have 
seen  the  funny  old  house  by  now." 

It  was  a  nasty  blow,  and  as  I  turned  from  the 
shop,  I  felt  I  had  been  badly  snubbed  for  my 
inquisitiveness  and  want  of  knowledge. 


IV 


WHILE  admitting  that  the  Motor 
Union,  Automobile  Association  and 
similar  institutions  no  doubt  do  ex- 
cellent work,  and  considerably  help 
the  hard  lot  of  the  present-day  motorist,  one 
cannot  help  having  a  feeling  of  annoyance  when 
one  sees  their  familiar  large  letters  plastered  all 
over  old  houses. 

At  Epping,  I  looked  a  long  while  for  my  inn 
before  I  could  discover  it  at  all,  so  thickly  was 
it  plastered,  and  completely  hidden,  by  M.U., 
R.A.C.,  C.T.C.,  A.A.,  X.Y.Z.,  G.P.O.,  A.C.U., 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  45 

and  other  combination  of  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
and  it  was  only  by  removing  some  of  the  super- 
fluous letters  that  I  was  at  last  able  to  find  its 
entrance  at  all. 

Salisbury,  as  a  town,  has  a  rather  large  number 
of  alphabetical  signs  plastered  all  over  it,  and 
besides  these  it  has  a  Cathedral,  and  was  once  the 
most  important  town  in  England.  Furthermore, 
it  has  an  inn  in  the  High  Street,  known  as  The 
Old  George   Hotel   at   the    present   day,   but   as    The  George  inn, 

r^i        ^  T  r  1  r    •         o  Salisbury 

The  George  Inn  tor  the  greater  part  01  its  800 
year  life.  The  lower  part  of  the  facade  of  the 
house  has  been  altered,  but  the  upper  part  is  still 
in  its  original  state. 

Many  letters  of  the  alphabet  can  be  seen  on 
its  front.  Of  its  history,  the  two  Teynterers, 
"  William  Teynterer  th'  elder  and  William 
Teynterer  th'  younger," — in  fact,  the  whole 
Teynterer  family — owned  the  house  from  1320 
to  about  1378,  when  William  Teynterer  th' 
younger  (how  it  rattles  off  the  tongue!)  left 
it  to  his  wife  "  Alesia."  (Why,  oh  why, 
don't  we  call  our  wives  Alesias  now  ?) 


+6 


OLD  INNS 


THE   GEORGE    INN, 
SALISBURY 

From  an  old  Print 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  47 

In  141  o  her  second  husband,  George  Meriot, 
died,  directing  in  his  will  that  the  tenement 
called  "  George  YN,"  situated  in  "  Ministrestret,' 
be  sold  by  his  Executors  and  the  proceeds  dis- 
tributed 4 i  for  the  souls  of  himself,  his  late  wife 
Alesia,  and  all  faithful  departed." 

In  1 4 1 4  the  "  YN  '  came  into  possession  of 
the  Corporation  under  licence  from  Henry  IV, 
and  in  1444,  its  rental  to  one  Henry  Smyth. 
What  a  falling  away  in  nomenclature  from  "  Alesia 
Teynterer  !  " 

Lord  de  Moleyns  was  rescued  in  1449  from 
Mr.  Henry  Smyth's  "  YN  "  by  the  Precentor  of 
Salisbury  and  Sir  Walter  Bayle,  as  for  some 
reason  (unrecorded)  the  "  common  citizens  ' 
of  Salisbury  had  arisen  against  the  aforesaid 
nobleman. 

That  is  briefly — very  briefly,  I  fear — the  early 
history  of  The  George. 

Another  item  of  interest  to  be  found  in  the 
city  archives  is  that  the  bay  window  which  was 
added,  probably  one  of  those  now  over  the 
porch,  cost  the  exorbitant  sum  of  20  shillings. 


48 


OLD  INNS 


In  an  old  lease  of  1473,  the  principal  chambers 
of  The  George  Inn  are  mentioned. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 

10 

1 1 

12 


The  Principal  Chamber. 

The  Earl's  Chamber. 

The  Oxford  Chamber. 

The  Abingdon  or  Middle  Chamber. 

The  Squire's  Chamber. 

The  Lombard's  Chamber. 

The  Garrett. 

The  George  Chamber. 

The  Clarendon  Chamber. 

The  Understent  Chamber. 

The  Fitzwarren  Chamber. 

The  London  Chamber, 


and  The  Tavern,  The  Wine  Cellar,  Buttery, 
Kitchen,  Hostry,  Hostler's  Chambers  and 
Parlour  above  the  Warehouse. 

In  1624  a  by-law  was  passed  forbidding 
strolling  players  to  perform  at  any  inn  in  Salisbury 
but  The  George,  and  on  October  17th,  1645, 
Oliver  Cromwell    slept   in    the   house,    and   the 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


49 


jiffi 

:rjjl|Hlj 

Ijg/MMMl  '"'  — '  ft 


THE  GEORGE   INN, 

SALISBURY 

From  an  old  print  of  1858 


5o  OLD   INNS 

ubiquitous  Samuel  Pepys  (some  day  perhaps  a 
traveller  will  find  an  inn  he  has  not  "  diaried  ") 
wrote  about  a  silk  bed  and  good  diet  ("  and  so 
to  bed '  might  well  be  worthy  of  record  under 
these  circumstances),  in  the  next  paragraph,  as 
usual,  stating  that  the  bill  was  so  exorbitant  that 
he  was  mad. 

There  seems  very  little  doubt  that  in  1769 
the  inn  was  used  as  a  private  house,  but  at  a 
later  date  it  was  once  again  turned  into  an  "  YN." 

What  an  "YN'  record  !  what  a  pedigree  ! — 
the  two  Teynterers,  th'  elder,  th'  younger,  Alesia, 
De  Moleyns,  Cromwell,  and  many  others,  with 
only  one  blot,  to  wit,  Henry  Smyth,  and  with 
a  history  such  as  it  has,  to-day  descended  to  be 
called  by  the  word  "Hotel." 

Of  this  house,  many  old  prints  of  various 
dates  are  to  be  found,  which  are  of  very  great 
interest  to  the  inn  student. 

At  the  present  day  it  has  a  beautiful  half- 
timber  upper  story,  which  by  comparing  with 
the  drawings  from  these  old  prints  included  here, 
will   be   seen   was   not   in   evidence  in    1834   or 


THE   COUNTRY  INNS 


5i 


•     *  --n    -*i 


«**      ' 


•  4 


■  f~ 


5 


,*-  -    1 


> 
i 


THE   GEORGE    INN, 

SALISBURY 

From  an  old  drawing  of  1834 


52  OLD  INNS 

1 8  5  8 ,  or   in  another   print   of  the    High   Street 
about  1820. 

In  the  Free  Library  and  Museum  at  Salisbury, 
is  an  even  earlier  painting  of  the  18th  century, 
which  also  includes  the  inn,  showing  the  plain 
stucco  front  above  the  bay  windows.  The  reason 
of  this  is  that,  some  years  ago,  the  present  landlady, 
while  having  some  repairs  done  to  the  front  of 
the  house,  discovered  this  fine  timber  front  under 
its  overlay  of  plaster,  and  had  its  original  Tudor 
woodwork  once  more  brought  to  the  light  of  day. 
A  most  commendable  thing  to  do. 

Unfortunately  she  was  unable  to  restore  the 
original  entrance  porch,  as  we  see  it  in  the  prints 
of  1830  and  1858,  but  I  am  sure  she  will  forgive 
me  for  doing  so  in  my  sketch,  and  for  omitting 
most  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  hung  on  the 
front  of  her  house. 

At  present,  above  the  porch,  the  inn  is  nearly 
exactly  as  it  was  in  early  Tudor  times,  and  with 
all  the  prints  available  and  the  main  porch 
timbers  still  intact,  it  should  be  a  comparatively 
simple  matter  to  replace  the  original  inn  entrance. 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  53 

If  this  were  done  it  would  certainly  be  one  of 
the  best  examples  of  a  Tudor  inn  in  the  Kingdom. 
At  present  its  exterior  is  spoilt  by  the  ground 
floor,  and  only  in  imagination  can  we  see  the  old 
house  as  it  originally  stood. 

Years  ago  you  went  under  the  archway  entrance 
into  a  yard  like  The  New  Inn  at  Gloucester — at 
The  George,  all,  alas,  now  done  away  with — but 
there  are  still  oldest  inhabitants  in  Salisbury  who 
can  remember,  if  not  the  yard  itself,  at  least 
hearing  about  its  glories  from  their  forbears  of 
the  coaching  age. 

In  place  of  this  yard  we  now  find  a  very 
diminutive,  shut-in-by-bricks-and-mortar  garden, 
but  on  adjoining  premises  can  still  be  seen  the 
old  banqueting  hall,  which  originally  was  part  of 
the  inn.  To-day  it  is  an  auctioneer's  lumber 
room  ! 

Oh,  that  some  enthusiastic  capitalist  could  be 
found  to  restore  some  of  these  old  houses  to  their 
original  state,  with  banqueting  halls,  galleried 
yards  and  imposing  entrances,  and  re-make  an 
inn  that   all   the  world,    including  the   American 


54 


OLD  INNS 


world,  would  probably  flock  to  see.  It  may  not 
be  the  original,  but  it  can  be  a  facsimile  of  it. 

In  one  house  we  shall  come  to  later,  this 
actually  has  happened,  moreover  with  most 
satisfactory  financial  results  for  its  promoters. 

The  greater  part  of  the  back  of  The  George 
is  now  more  or  less  modern,  although  there  is  a 
fine  staircase  at  one  end  of  the  building ;  but  the 
outstanding  features  of  the  "  YN  "  are  the  two 


SALISBURY 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


55 


PORCH    ROOM   AT 
THE  GEORGE, 
SALISBURY 


56 


OLD  INNS 


bay-window  rooms  over  the  porch,  some  of  the 
upper  bedrooms,  and  what  is  now  known  as  an 
upstairs  lounge. 

In  this  latter  there  are  some  carved  timbers  of 
interest,  and  in  all  these  rooms  mentioned  are  very 
fine  specimens  of  timber  work  in  the  walls  and 
ceilings  ;  in  fact,  the  whole  skeleton  is  there.  The 
capitalist  only  is  wanted  to  restore  and  refurnish 
it  with  furniture  in  keeping  with  the  old  house. 

The  sketch  I  have  made  shows  the  two  ends 
of  the  left-hand  porch  room,  but  the  lady  in  the 
picture  is  not  a  portrait  of  the  present  landlady. 
I  mention  this  solely  as  a  protection  against  a 
possible  libel  action. 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS 


57 


BEAMS   IN  THE   PORCH    ROOM, 
GEORGE  INN,   SALISBURY 


V 


WHEN  originally  a  start  was  made  on 
what  my  friends  will  designate  as 
pub  crawling  expeditions,  all  sorts  of 
routes,  plans  and  places  were  set  out, 
with  the  help  of  my  friend  Patterson,  decently 
and  in  order.  There  were  to  be  a  serious  series 
of  pilgrimages,  and  definite  houses  were  to  be 
visited  in  their  right  sequence. 

Our  most  cherished  and  carefully  worked  out 
plans,  however,  soon  fell  to  the  ground.  One 
stayed  longer  or  shorter  periods  at  these  houses, 
and  places  not  appearing  in  Patterson  had  to 
be  visited.  Much  as  I  should  have  liked  to  have 
stayed  under  the  guidance  of  the  godfather  of 
my  book,  it  was  found  impossible  ;  and  after  all, 
a   ramble  without  a   definite  plan  has   a   much 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  59 

greater  charm  than  the  properly  and  efficiently 
organized  holiday,  a  horrible  undertaking  at  the 
best  of  times,  which  always  reminds  me  of  the 
Punch  picture  of  Paterfamilias  on  a  wet  day  at 
Margate,  surrounded  by  his  wet  through  and 
squalling  family — "  I've  brought  you  out  for  a 
holiday,  and  you've  jolly  well  got  to  enjoy 
yourselves." 

We'll    wander    on    therefore,   never   knowing 
where  we  are  going  or  how  long  we  shall  stay- 
the  correct   way  of  enjoying  a  holiday — with  no 
fixed  plan,    but  just  as   the    fancy  and    the    old 
houses  attract  us. 

It  has  always  occurred  to  me  what  a  grand 
stage  setting  these  old  inn  yards  would  make. 
Constantly  one  has  seen  parodies  of  them  in  the 
theatre— sometimes  the  grossest  libels  imaginable 
—but  their  effect  of  distance  through  the  entrance 
archway,  and  numerous  exits  and  entrances  neces- 
sary, I  believe,  in  stage-craft,  surely  make  them 
pre-eminently  suitable  for  this  purpose.  Of 
course  there  is  the  stereotyped  stage  setting  of  an 
old  inn,  but  how  unlike  it  is  to  the  original. 


6o 


OLD  INNS 


MEASURED  from 
HYDE  PARK  CORNER. 


LONDON  to  EXETER. 


THROUGH  STOCK- 
BRIDGE,  SALISBURY, 
to*  SHAFTESBURY. 


BASINGSTOKE,  4  m.  be- 
jood,  Kenifvhot  Park,  J  Hamil- 
ton, r>q.  ,  and  beyond  it,  near 
2  m  from  the  mad,  Farleigh 
House,  Chtu.  A-  Caldwell,  Esq. 


POPHAM  LAVE  Preston 
Candover  House,  J.  Rlackbunie, 
Esq.  ,  Preston  Cottage,  belong. 
ing  to  the  ume  gentleman ; 
and  Dummer  House,  T.  Terry, 
Esq, 


LECKFORD  HUTT.  Craw- 
ley  House,  —  Bright,  Esq. ; 
Somboum  House,  —  Am?,  Kea; 
Somboum  Parsonage,  Rev.  ft 
Taylor  ;  and  Rookley  House, 
Grorge  Losell,  Esq. 


STOCK  BRIDGE  Stock- 
bridge  House,  Earl  Grosvennr  ; 
through  Stnckbridje,  Houghton 
Lodge,  Ja'm  jStnct,  E^q.  ; 
Houghton  HqU*P,  Peter  Green, 
Esq.  ;  and  beyond  it,  Bos<ington 
House,  —  Trelaivx&t  Esq. 


WINTERSLOW      HUTT 
Roche  Court,    F.    T.    Egerton, 

Esq.  ;  beyond  which  is  Norman 
Court,  Charles  Baring  Wall, 
Esq. ;  and  Tytherley  House, 
Rev.  —  Thutltthwaj/te. 


SALISBURY.  Ijiverstock 
House,  Sir  James  Burrouch ; 
beyond  which  is  Clarendon 
Lodge,  unoccupied  ;  and  on  the 
bank  of  the  Avon  river,  Long- 
ford Castle,  Earl  of  Radnor  ; 
adjoining  which  is  New  Hall, 
J.  T.  Baft,  Esq. 


WILTON.      Wilton    House, 
Earl  of  Pembroke. 


WHITE  SHEET  TURN- 
PIKE. Fern  House,  Thos. 
Grove,  Esq. 


SHAFTESBURY.    Pensbury 
House,  Capt.  Ccuclte, 


WEST  STOURE  At  Fife- 
head,  Fifehead  House,  Re?. 
Francis  Baker. 


HENSTRIDGE  ASH.  At 
Stalbridge,  Stalbridge  Park, 
Marquis  of  Anglesea ;  beyond 
which  is  Thornhill  House,  J. 
M.  Cree,  Esq  j  and  Stock  House, 
Rev.  H.  Fa  rr  Yeatman. 


£Z  From 

168  J  Hyde  Park  Corner  to 

I  *  BASINGSTOKE, 

123J-J  Hants.,  page  43 

~&  to  *  Popham  Lane, 
lITi  Wheat  Sheaf  Inn 

"^}  to  Winchester  \l\  m. 
09i  To     Sutton  & 

To  Whitchurch  6  m.  £g" 
■^5  to  Winchester  7  m. 
2  m.  farther, 
To  Andover  7  m.  {J" 
^J  to  Winchester  b'J  m. 

105}  Leek  ford  Hutt 

102       *  STOCKBRIDGE 

_j_   (to  Winchester  9  m. 
**((<)  Ronisey  1 1  m. 
Cross  the  ^^)  Andover  Canal, 
and  ^^  river  Test. 

To  Andover  7  m.  £3" 

Lobcombe  Corner, 
95}  Wiltshire 

To  Andover  10^  m.  £• 

The  Pheasant  Inn,  or 
94  Winter-slow  Hutt 

5  m.  further t 
Cross  the  ^^river  Bourne 

*  SALISBURY 

y  to    I  i/mr 

tgbridg, 

87  [  Fisherton 

To  Devixes  22  m.  $& 

84|i  Fugg!estone,or  Foulstone 

To  Warminster  \&\  m.  O" 
Cross  the  ^£  river  Avon 

84}  "©  to  Wilton 

Through  Wilton, 
To  Pruton-,  by  ChicfelaaU\  \  «. 
S0£  m.  S  ** 

83}  Ugford 

82}  Burcombe 

81 J  Barford 

To  Hindon  9£  m.  £$■ 
Cross  the  5^3  river  Nadder 
79}[    Compton  Chamberlain 


45} 

51 

59 


63 

66* 


73} 


74: 


81 


81J 

83J 


84} 


85} 
85| 
87 


89} 


LECKFORD  HUTT. 
Wherwell  House,  Col.  Iron- 
monger. 


STOCKBRIDGE  consisU 
chiefly  of  a  range  of  houses  <>n 
each  side  the  road  :  it  is  situated 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Test,  and 
is  a  borough  by  prescription, 
sendingS  members  to  parliament. 
This  place  derives  its  chief  sup- 
port from  the  passage  of  travel. 
I ers,  being  a  great  thoroughfare, 
aod  baring  very  l.ttle  trade  of  it- 
own.  Near  this,  on  Houghtrm 
Down,  is  a  race  course,  on  which 
Stockbridge  races  are  annually 
run.  The  Andover  canal  pastee 
through  Stockbridge,  and  there, 
by  affords  not  only  a  means  of 
communication  with  several 
towns,  but  also  with  the  sea. 
Market  on  Thursday. 


STOCKBRIDGE. Through  Hie 
town.IjOngrtockHo't&e,  J  F.Bar, 
ham,  Em.  ;  and  .'■{  m.  beyond 
Stockortdge,  at  Walton,  Walljp 
House,  Janus  Bsunt,  Esq. 


SALISBURY,  entrance  of. 
The  College,  Wadham  Wynd. 
ham,  Esq.  ;  and  2  m.  distant. 
Little  Durnford  House,  E. 
JHnxman,  Esq. 


BARFORD.       Hunlcotl 
House,  Alexander  Powell,  Esq. 


COMPTON      CH 
LAIN.     Compton 
Humgerfojd  Penruddockt 


IAMB/ 

Hous*/ 
ock,  B 


FOVANT,  2  m.  distant,  1 
ton  House,  a  well  built  mode  . 
mansion,  of  chaste  design,   1-1 
longing  to  Wm.  Wyndhaw,  Esc) 


WA.RDOUR  PARK.     Vinr\ 

dour  Castle,  Lord  Arundel.  Th'ij 
castle  is  seated  on  an  eminence 
and  surrounded  by  a  lawn  anj 
thick  woods.     The  building   j. 
entirely  compose.1  of  free-ston  1 
and  consists  of  a  centre  and  twl 
wings  :  the  entrance  facing  tbi 
north  is  highly  ornamented  witm 
pilasters  and  half  columns  of  thl 
Corinthian    order;    and 
to  a  rotunda  staircase, 
sally  allowed  to  he  one  i 
finest  specimens  i  I  architecture 
ornament  in  the  kingdom.    Ty 
apartments     are    spacinud    A 
elegant,  decorated    in  the  m/ 
costly    style,     and     embelli&J 
with   many  curious    speciny 
of  carved  work  :  those  on* 


rt  ■■<}■•■  f 
,  umvef 
e  of  thl 


A   PAGE  FROM    "PATTERSON'S   ROADS' 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  6r 

What  a  background  for  the  actor  The  New 
Inn  at  Gloucester  would  make,  or  the  beamed 
rooms  of  The  George  at  Salisbury  ! 

I  sometimes  wish  I  could  reproduce  for  those 
who  do  not  know  Patterson  the  whole  of  his 
book— but  then  I  should  be  accused  of  plagiarism, 
and  I  am  afraid  really  he  does  not  tell  you  very 
much  about  old  inns. 

A  portion  of  one  of  his  pages  I  must  include. 
Its  direct  simplicity,  its  road  in  the  centre  between 
two  lines  showing  side  turnings,  and  the  houses 
of  the  "  nobility  and  gentry '  on  either  side  of 
the  road  in  right-  and  left-hand  columns  is  an 
example  in  simplicity  to  present  day  guide-book 
makers.  As  I  cannot  reproduce  in  the  small 
space  available  his  700  similar  pages,  I  can  only 
give  an  extract  which  will  at  once  show  his  plan  ; 
but  if  you  want  to  know  where  all  the  toll  gates 
stood,  and  who  lived  on  either  side  of  the  road 
in  1 8  3  1 ,  you  must  get  a  copy  of  his  book. 

You  get  almost  as  much  humour  out  of 
Patterson  as  you  do  from  a  certain  well-known 


62  OLD  INNS 

daily  picture  paper,  which  an  artist  friend  of  mine 
in  a  newspaper  interview  once  described  as,  in 
his  opinion,  the  best  comic  paper  in  England. 

Then  again,  we  have  Patterson's  quaintly 
humorous  descriptions,  which  do  away  entirely 
with  the  dullness  of  an  ordinary  guide  map. 

Take  Islington,  for  instance,  of  which  he  says : — 
"This  village,  though  once  described  as '  a  pleasant 
country  town',  is  now  only  separated  from  London 
by  name ;  since  a  continuation  of  buildings  posi- 
tively unite  it  with  the  metropolis  ;  it  is  situated 
on  a  nice  gravelly  and  loamy  soil,  and  chiefly 
composed  of  the  dwellings  of  retired  citizens  and 
others  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  The  well- 
known  salubrity  of  the  air  tends  much  to  increase 
the  population  of  Islington." 

But  this,  of  course,  was  in  the  days  of  John 
Gilpin  of  credit  and  renown. 

Then  again,  of  Witney— "The  domestic  build- 
ings are  uniformly  of  a  respectable  character.' 

Witneyites  must  have  been  pleased  to  see  that 
in  print,  and  their  respectability  vouched  for  and 
duly  recorded  by  Patterson. 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  63 

Tarporley  is,  according  to  Patterson,  only  a 
"  tolerably  clean  town." 

Uppingham  is  a  very  respectable  town  con- 
taining a  "number  of  eligible  domestic  buildings," 
and  so  on. 

One  never  has  a  dull  five  minutes  with  Patterson. 
Still,  however,  we  are  only  at  The  George  "YN", 
and  to  the  little  inn  at  Woolhampton,  between 
Newbury  and  Reading,  is  many  miles  of  travel. 

At  Newbury  there  are  two  inns  worth  noting.  Jhe .^ellcan' 
The  Pelican,  a  house  of  world-wide  reputa- 
tion in  the  coaching  days,  and  a  hundred  yards 
farther  along  the  London  road  towards  Reading 
The  King's  Arms,  once  a  well-known  posting- 
house. 

It  was  of  The  Pelican  that  the  famous  couplet 
was  written  : 

The  Pelican  at  Speenhamland, 
It  stands  upon  a  hill, 
You  know  it  is  The  Pelican 
By  its  enormous  bill. 

The  Pelican  was  known  as  The  George  and 
Pelican,  the  two  houses,  on  opposite  sides  of   the 


64  OLD  INNS 

road,  being  owned  by  the   same   landlady — Mrs. 
Botham. 

In  those  days  of  road  travel  a  popular  host  or 
hostess  was  as  well-known  as  a  favourite  actor 
or  actress  is  to-day. 

All  the  world  knew  Mrs.  Botham,  and  her 
house — certainly  all  the  world  who  ever  travelled 
along  the  Bath  road. 

Although  celebrated,  like  Oscar  Asche,  it  was 
not  architecturally  an  Adonis,  but  from  what  one 
reads  of  its  past  history  it  must  have  been  emi- 
nently comfortable,  notwithstanding  its  rapacious 
bill.      That  is  The  Pelican  proper. 

The  George,  over  the  way,  was  a  typical  early 
Georgian  house. 

On  account  of  The  George  and  Pelican's  once 
almost  royal  position  in  inn  history  I  mention  it. 
It  is  not  a  beautiful  house,  but  if  only  as  a  link 
in  the  story  of  the  inn  it  should  have  a  place  in 
this  book. 

The  house  now  known  as  The  Dower  House, 
The  King's  Newbury,  was  The  King's  Arms,  and  artisticallv 

Arms,  Newbury       ...  °  .      .      ■ 

it  is  certainly  a  much  more  interesting  building 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  65 

than  The  Pelican,  which  never  had  any  pretensions 
to  architectural  beauty.  Many  of  the  features  of 
The  King's  Arms,  although  on  a  much  smaller 
scale,  are  similar  to  The  Castle  Inn  at  Marlborough, 
which  is  now-part  of  Marlborough  College. 

A  fine  Queen  Anne  building  is  the  late  King's 
Arms,  which  to-day  is  used  as  a  store-house  for 
antique  furniture,  and  no  doubt  makes  a  very  fine 
setting  for  it.  One  can  still  imagine  the  string 
of  post-chaises  and  travelling  chariots  pulling 
up  at  its  door.  Like  the  Marlborough  house, 
it  is  set  back  slightly  from  the  road  to  allow 
wheeled  traffic  to  pull  in  and  not  block  what 
was  then  the  main  thoroughfare  to  Bath  and 
the  west. 

A  few  miles  nearer  Reading  is  The  Angel  at    The  Angel, 

#°  °  \\  oolhampton 

Woolhampton,  a  small  but  typical  coaching  house, 
with  a  queer  sign  coming  well  over  the  road. 
The  figure  hanging  on  this  sign  looks  like  a  rather 
depressed  Bacchus  seated  on  a  barrel,  but  as  it  is 
considerably  damaged  by  wind  and  weather  it  is 
quite  possible  Bacchus  is  an  angel  in  disguise. 
Near  Reading  we  also  have  The  Bell  at  Hurley,    The  Bell,  Hurley 


The  Bell, 
Waltham  St. 
Lawrence 

The  Ostrich, 
Coin  brook 


66  OLD   INNS 

and   The   Bell   at  Waltham   St.    Lawrence,  both 
worth  a  visit. 

At   Colnbrook,  much    nearer   London,  is  The 
Ostrich  — called    (amongst    others)     "  the    oldest 


inn. 


•>} 


As   Colnbrook   is   a   long,  very  narrow   street, 


THE   BELL, 

WALTHAM    ST.   LAWRENCE 


THE   COUNTRY   INNS 


67 


&*** 


THE    BELL, 
HURLEY 


68  OLD  INNS 

and  has  a  ten-mile  limit  attached  to  it,  there  is 
plenty  of  time  to  see  what  is  left  of  The  Ostrich : 
internally  most  of  the  timbers,  but  very  little 
else,  I  am  afraid.  It  is  a  pity  that  its  outside  has 
not  been  more  carefully  preserved,  as  historically 
it  stands  high,  although  according  to  Patterson 
the  only  two  inns  where  you  could  get  post 
horses  in  Colnbrook  were  The  George  and  White 
Hart.      The   Ostrich  he  does   not  even  mention. 

The  Ostrich  indeed  ! — After  being  originally 
christened  The  Hospice,  and  degenerating  into 
its  present  name,  no  wonder  the  house  hangs  its 
head  to-day . 

Of  Colnbrook,  instead  of  Tarporley,  Patterson 
might  truly  have  written  that  it  is  only  a  "tolerably 
clean  town.'  He  would  certainly  have  paid  it 
a  compliment  had  he  done  so  to-day.  Ten  miles 
an  hour,  and  every  yard  of  its  narrow  street  you 
splash  mud  on  to  the  foot  passengers,  and  walls 
and  windows  that  line  your  way. 

But  The  Ostrich  has  a  Grand  Guignol  thrill — 
besides  being  the  "oldest  house." 

Once  upon  a  time  a  former  landlord,  not  the 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


69 


'*•«- 


THE   OSTRICH, 
COLNBROOK 


7o  OLD   INNS 

present  one,  had  a  nice  cosy  little  bedroom 
known,  and  still  shown,  as  the  Blue  Room. 
Here  wealthy  traders  from  London,  Bath,  and 
Reading  were  wont  to  put  up  for  the  night. 
The  wealthiest  being  always  given  the  Blue 
Room. 

Now  in  the  Blue  Room  was  also  a  trap-door 
in  the  floor  which  opened  into  the  brewhouse 
boiling  vat,  and  through  this  trap-door,  upon 
which  the  Blue  Room  bedstead  stood,  went  many 
of  these  wealthy  merchants,  suddenly,  and  with- 
out due  warning  to  themselves. 

In  this  way  some  60  odd  disappeared  and 
became  beer,  and  the  landlord  and  his  wife 
became  rich  and   lived    happily   ever  afterwards. 

That  is  really  not  quite  what  happened,  as  they 
were  caught,  and  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered 
themselves — but  if  you  begin  a  "  once  upon  a 
time  '  story,  even  if  true  (and  The  Ostrich  story 
is  vouched  for  by  one  "  Mr.  Thomas  Cole, 
Clothier,  of  Reading, v  who,  it  is  on  record,  was 
one  of  the  14th  century  brewed  travellers),  you 
have  to  close  it  in  a  happy  and  orthodox  manner. 


THE   COUNTRY   INNS  71 

However,  at  The  Ostrich  is  the  Blue  Room 
still.  You  can  sleep  in  it  for  a  moderate  fee,  and 
have  your  Little  Theatre  thrills  for  less  than  it 
costs  you  for  a  Grand  Guignol  stall. 

The  boiling  vat  brewhouse  has  been  done  away 
with,  but  if  you  have  any  imagination  at  all,  you 
will  see  the  whole  of  the  sixty  odd  murders  (after 
reading  Ye  Old  Ostrich  booklet  (menu  on 
back),  provided  by  the  management  gratis,) 
enacted   before   you   during   the   night. 

Just  as  you  reach  the  limit  of  the  ten-mile  area 
on  your  right,  past  the  Star  Inn,  is  an  old  range 
of  buildings  that  calls  for  a  halt ;  and  these,  because 
they  look  as  if  they  should  belong  to  an  inn,  I 
have  included.  Locally  known  as  Kin^  John's 
Palace,  I  don't  think  they  come  under  the  scope 
of  this  book  at  all — in  fact,  I  am  convinced  they 
do  not.  Its  a  book  of  inns,  not  palaces:  but 
somehow  they  have  the  look  of  an  inn's  belongings. 

If  I  had  been  an  innkeeper  when  inns  were 
inns,  and  horses  were  horses,  I  should  have  had 
these  cottages  and  stabling,  had  they  been  avail- 
able.       I    know    their    history,    but    am    forcing 


72 


OLD  INNS 


myself  to  forget  it,  as  it  has  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  an  inn,  but  as  they  say  on  the  stage, 
"  they  look  the  part  "  if  nothing  else.  Moreover, 
it  is  the  last  sketch  we  shall  be  able  to  make 
before  reaching  London. 


*4.S 


KING   JOHN'S   PALACE, 
COLNBROOK 


VI 


H,  boy  !  how  you  did  enjoy  yourself ! 
You  and  your  motor-cycle,  with  the 
neatest-ankled    girl     in     the    world 
perched  behind  you. 
On  Bank  Holiday,  on  the  Ripley  Road,    you 
were  out  in  your  thousands,  in   one  long,  con- 
tinuous stream,  and  The  Anchor  looked  just  as  it    The  Anchor, 
did  in  the  old  push-bike  age. 

To    watch     this     holiday    throng    from     the 
comfortable  bow  window  of  the  old  George  Inn    ^e.G 
was  better  than  any  play  or  cinema  ever  devised, 
for  the  reason  that,  as  we  used  to  say  as  children, 
it  was  all  real. 

Every  one  rushing  down  the  road,  and  trying 
to  pass  every  one  else,  with  a  heaven-help-the- 
hindmost  feeling  about  it  all. 

o 


74 


OLD   INNS 


^ 


j 


k 


THE   GEORGE   INN, 
RIPLEY 


On  a  fine  Bank  Holiday  on  the  Ripley  Road  the 
motor-cyclist  and  girl  are  in  the  ascendant.  And, 
on  the  Bank  Holiday  I  saw  it,  how  they  all  were 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  75 

enjoying  themselves! — the  boys  and  the  girls,  a 
totally  different  crowd  to  that  on  the  Epping  or 
Maidenhead  Road  on  a  similar  holiday. 

The  public-house,  as  public-house,  was  not 
doing  the  heavy  drinking  business  of  the  old 
days — what  the  beanfeaster  usually  considers 
enjoyment. 

Moreover,  on  the  Ripley  Road  there  was  no 
singing.  It  was  all  dead  keen  enjoyment  all  the 
same.  Each  girl  with  neat  feet  swung  out, 
feeling  sure  she  had  the  best  ankles  of  any,  and 
each  boy  convinced  that  his  "  Mo-bike'  could 
beat  them  all  and,  moreover,  trying  his  level  best 
to  do  so. 

I  have  studied  an  Epping  crowd,  and  the 
Maidenhead  Sunday  knuts.  In  the  first,  chars-a- 
bancs  are  in  the  ascendant.  On  the  Bath  Road, 
Rolls-Royces  and  smart  two-seater  coupes  come 
an  easy  first.  But  on  the  Ripley  Road  the 
motor-bike  is  king,  just  the  same  as  the  old 
push-bike  was  king  on  the  same  road  years  ago. 

On  the  Maidenhead  Road  we  go  out  to  lun- 
cheon, but   on    the    Ripley  tea   is   the   big   meal. 


7  6  OLD  INNS 

A  picnic  lunch — what  the  publicans  call  a 
nosebag  lunch — is  what  most  of  the  travellers 
carry,  but  for  tea  they  foregather.  Tea  is  the 
piece  de  resistance. 

And  what  a  tea  !  Eggs,  jam,  and  cakes  galore 
— ad  lib.  as  the  menus  state.  Here  the  lasses  get 
down  for  a  well-earned  rest  for  their  erstwhile 
swinging  legs  and  ankles.  Here  they  meet  their 
friends  and  acquaintances,  in  fact  "  foregather.' 
There's  no  other  word  that  expresses  it.  Here 
at  the  historic  Anchor  or  The  Old  George  (which 
no  one  will  recognize  because  it  is  not  now 
known  by  its  old  title)  and  other  hostelries,  they 
TEA  before  making  or  finishing  the  homeward 
journey. 

Now,  on  the  Bath  Road,  if  we  tea  at  all,  we  do  it 
in  small  quantities — we  have  lunched  at  The  Riviera 
or  Skindle's.  But  on  the  Ripley  Road  we  sit  down 
to  a  square  tea  meal.  It  is  at  tea,  and  not  lunch,  that 
our  ladies  disport  themselves  and  their  frocks — for 
the  envy  and  admiration  of  the  surrounding  crowd. 
Did  I  say  frocks  ?  If  so,  it  certainly  is  not  the 
right  word — kit  is  the  word :  there  are  no  frocks 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  77 

on  the  Ripley  Road.  Kit  is  what  they  wear. 
Many  of  them  in  the  discarded  war-kit — land 
girls,  or  remount  stable  workers  ;  but  cut  inches 
shorter — to  suit  the  prevailing  fashion,  I  presume — 
than  they  were  allowed  to  do  even  during  the  war. 

Somehow  or  other  their  kit,  whatever  it  may 
be,  always  seems  suitable  and  workmanlike  for  a 
motor-bicycle  ;  and  as  for  ankles,  the  display 
on  a  motor-cycle  parade  on  this  road  on  a 
public  holiday  would  put  to  shame  the  best 
and  more  carefully  selected  stage  chorus. 

The  fashions  of  the  Ripley  Road  are  a  vogue 
in  themselves;  they  are  neither  of  the  Maidenhead 
nor  the  Epping  highway— they  stand  alone,  neat 
tailor-made  garments  generally  being  in  the 
ascendant.  Frocks  don't  worry  these  ladies,  of  frills 
and  furbelows  they  will  have  nothing  ;  but  the  best 
silk  stockings  and  Sunday  shoes  are  always  put  on 
for  the  motor- carrier,  and  on  the  Riplev  Road 
no  self-respecting  boy  would  think  of  starting  out 
on  a  Bank  Holiday  without  a  smart  pair  of 
silk  stockings  swinging  behind  him  for  all  the 
world  to  see. 


7» 


OLD  INNS 


THE   GRANTLEY  ARMS, 
WONERSH 


At  Ripley  all  the  world  has  tea,  at  least,  all 
the  motor-cycling  world.  The  landlord  points 
out  to  you,  if  by  chance  you  should  be  a  stranger, 
the  motor-cycling  racing  knuts,  just  as  in  the 
old  cycling  days,  host  Dibble  (still  in  possession 
of  the    Anchor)    would   point    out   the   foremost 


THE   COUNTRY   INNS  79 

road-racing    and    track     men     seated    round     his 
hospitable  board. 

From  6  o'clock  onwards  the  exodus  begins — 
after  much  discussing  of  machines,  oiling,  and 
petroling.  An  admiring  crowd  watch  a  well- 
known  track  rider  swing  into  his  saddle  like  a 
jockey — as  his  bus  jumps  off  the  mark  London- 
wards.  And  so  the  string  goes  on,  one  incessant 
'  procession  of  pneumatic-tyred  traffic,  until  about 
10  o'clock — when  the  cripples  begin  to  crawl 
through.  Obsolete  motor-cars  clank,  clanking  their 
way  back  to  town,  motor-cycles  towing  others,  or 
cars  being  towed  to  the  nearest  garage. 

Last  of  all  come  the  walking  contingent — 
cyclists  who  have  buckled  their  wheels  by  trying 
conclusions  with  other  and  heavier  traffic  on  the 
road,  and  so  comes  the  end  of  one  more  mile- 
stone, a  Bank  Holidav  on  the  Ripley  Road. 

While  at  Ripley  a   visit   should  also  be   made 
to  The  Grantley  Arms  at  Wonersh,  near  Guildford,     Arms,  Wonersh 
restored,  but  a  wonderfully  good  restoration,  and 
an  inn  that  should  certainly  not  be  missed. 


VII 


The  King's 
Head,  Chigwell 


EVERY  one  knows  The  Maypole 
Inn  of  Dickens's  "  Barnaby  Rudge," 
at  any  rate,  Cattermole's  illustrations 
of  it.  A  heavily-timbered  inn  of 
more  or  less  conventional  type,  with  a  great 
overhanging  porch.  At  least,  so  it  appears  in 
the  book  ;  but  by  all  good  Dickensians  the  inn 
that  has  always  been  known  to  them  as  Charles 
Dickens's  original  of  The  Maypole,  is  The  King's 
Head,  at  Chigwell,  about  ten  miles  out  of 
London. 

Here  is  "  the  churchyard  opposite,  and  the 
large  room  with  diamond-paned  latticed  windows 
and  massive  beams,"  and  although  there  stands 
another  Maypole  Inn  on  Chigwell  Green,  and 
our  Chigwell  one  is  not  even  half-timbered,  this, 


THE    COUNTRY    INNS 


81 


The  King's  Head  Inn,  is  generally  considered 
the  one  Dickens  had  in  his  mind  when  writing 
"  Barnaby  Rudge." 


$1j 


2  v 


THE    KINGS   HEAD    (MAYPOLE) 

CHIGW  I  II. 


The  main  lines  in  Cattermole's  illustration  of 
The  Maypole  follow  somewhat  the  lines  oi  the 
Chigwell  house,  but  I  fancy  his  drawing  was 
evolved  more  from  his  own  brain  and  not  done 
from  any    actual    building.      At   the   same   time 


82  OLD   INNS 


I 


• 


fir 

■        ■■■ 


ww»r5> 1 ;  r •  s    "  ■#**■ 


THE   KING'S  HEAD, 
CHIGWELL 


there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  our  inn,  The 
King's  Head,  is  the  one  Dickens  wrote  his  story 
round. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  and  apart  from  its  Dickens 
interest,  The  King's  Head  is  without  doubt  a 
very  fine  old  house,  and  worthy  of  inclusion  in 
any  book  on  old  houses. 

Additions  and  alterations  it  has   had,  but   the 


THE    COUNTRY    INNS 


»3 


v 

"Chester"  room — not,  be  it  said,  named  after 
Orpen's  chef — and  particularly  the  beautiful 
window  in  it.  is  worthy  of  a  yisit- 

At  Epping,  a  few  miles  farther  out,  The  Cock  TheCock, 
should  be  seen.  Its  outside  is  not  very  prepossess- 
ing, but  it  has  the  cosiness  inside  which  one 
always  associates  with  an  inn  ;  and  its  head  waiter, 
with  the  manner  of  a  duke's  major-domo,  is  a 
study  in  old-school-butler  character  which  should 
not  be  missed. 


a4 

0  z> 


VIII 

AX  extraordinary  thing  is  that  what 
strikes  one  most  on  hrst  seeing 
Stratford -on- A  von  is  its  feeling  of 
newness.  SomehowT  or  other  its  old 
buildings  are  so  clean  and  polished  up  for  the 
summer  visitors  that,  to  me,  the  town  has  always 
been  disappointing. 

Everything  is  so  perfectly  swept  and  garnished 
that  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  antiquity  of  these 
old  houses.  The  whole  place  savours  rather  too 
much  of  a  stage  effect. 

That,  however,  is  only  my  impression,  and  it 
may  not  be  the  impression  it  gives  other  people. 
Some  of  the  new  old  buildings  look  a  good  deal 
older  than  the  old  old  and  genuine  article,  but  I 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


85 


am  afraid  I  completely  fail  to  see  the  so-called 
beauty  of  the  modern  Memorial  Theatre  ;  neither 
could  I  ever  see  any  beauty  in  the  Prince  Consort 
Memorial  in  Kensington  Gardens. 

Of  inns  there  are  many,  or  rather  one  should 
certainly  say  in  this  case,  "  hotels,'1  and  no  doubt 


-  I 


91 


* 


THE    FIVE   GABLES, 
SHAKESPEAR   HOTEL, 
STRATFORD-ON-AVON 


86 


OLD  INNS 


THE   BEAR, 
SANDBACH 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  87 

friend  Patterson  would  with  truth  to-day  be  able 
to  classify  Stratford-on-Avon,  as  he  describes 
Southam  in  Warwickshire. 

The  five  gables  now  part  of  The  Shakespear    The  Shakespear, 

.  *  r     1     •        Stratford-on- 

Hotel  are  rather  interesting  on  account  or   their    Avon 
almost  identical  counterpart  with   the  five  gables 
of  Staple  Inn.      That  is  all  that  can  be  included 
pf  The  Shakespear  Hotel. 

The  comfort  of  the  house,  however,  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired  ;  age  and  modernity  being 
very  closely  interwoven  in  the  interior. 

At  Sandbach  in  Cheshire  is  a  quaint  little  inn    Jhe)?ca,r' 

1  bandbach 

known  as  The  Bear. 

After  the  cleanliness  of  the  Stratford  inns 
perhaps  the  outside  of  it  goes  to  rather  the  other 
extreme  ;  but  its  unique  shape,  standing  at  one 
side  of  the  large  cobbled  square,  makes  it  of 
interest  more  perhaps  as  a  curiosity  than  as  a 
beautiful  house. 

It  is  doubtful  if  it  was  ever  more  than  a  small 
village  inn  when  Sandbach  was  a  village  ;  now  it 
is  a  town,  it  is  a  little  public-house. 

Here   possibly   you  could   quench    your  thirst, 


88  OLD   INNS 

but  owing  to  its  small   size  it  could  never  have 
had  many  of  the  traveller's  inn  features. 
The  Bear's  From  here  to  Brereton,  i  6  7  miles  from  London, 

Head,  7  °  ' 

Brereton  vide  Patter  son,  is  only  a  matter  of  two  miles,  and 

at  The   Bear's   Head   our  long  journey  north  is 
amply  rewarded. 

The  house  itself  is  not  very  large  in  comparison 
with  many  of  the  coaching  houses,  but  it  is  a 
picturesque  "  magpie '  building  dated  1 6 1  5,  with 
a  very  large  block  of  stabling  and  coach-houses, 
of  a  later  period,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  main 
road.  No  doubt  it  had  a  large  business  in 
coaching  times  ;  in  fact,  the  stabling  is  much 
bigger  than  the  inn  itself.  Certainly  it  was  an 
inn  which  was  built  for  a  road  traveller's  rest, 
and  one  moreover  at  which  I  see  by  Mr.  Mogg 
you  could  get  post-horses. 

On  the  main  Liverpool  and  London  road, 
before  the  advent  of  railways,  its  traffic  must  have 
been  continuous  day  and  night.  Here  the 
celebrated  Liverpool  Umpire  coach  had  a  change 
of  horses.  In  one's  mind's  eye  one  can  see  it 
come  swinging  round  the  bend  of  the  road  and 


THE   COUNTRY   INN'S 


89 


."JPtTj 


THE   DEARS   HEAD, 
BRERETON 


9° 


OLD  INNS 


one  can  hear  the  guard's  warning  to  the  ostlers  on 
his  key  bugle,  even  before  the  coach  actually 
comes  in  sight.  How  different  from  the  present- 
day  discordant  hoot  of  the  motor  as  it  appears 
round  the  same  bend  ! 


THE   BEARS   HEAD, 
BRERETON 


No  "  Three  blind  'uns  and  a  bolter '  here  as 
the  team  pulls  up  at  The  Bear's  Head  porch,  but 
"  sorts "  all  of  them,  three  bays  and  a  grey, 
although    Brereton    was,    in    coaching    parlance, 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  91 

11  the    middle    ground, "    the    ground    where   the 
best  horses  were  not  used. 

One  can  see  the  bustle  and  movement  of  it  ! 
Passengers  who  wanted  refreshment  in  the  three 
or  four  minutes,  or  less,  allowed  lor  the  change, 
squeezing  by  those  who  didn't  ;  the  stiff  hot 
brandy  and  water  handed  up  by  the  landlady 
herself  to  the  coachman  as  soon  as  the  hissing 
ostlers  had  unhitched  the  leaders  and  wheelers, 
and  he  had  his  hands  free  to  take  it. 

All  the  while,  however,  he  has  his  eyes  on  the 
fresh  team  as  they  are  being  put  to. 

"  Bottom  bar  for  the  near  leader,  Jim '  (all 
ostlers  were  Jims).  "  The  bay  mare's  brushing 
a  bit ;  put  a  Yorkshire  boot  on  her  off  hind 
to-morrow,"  and  so  on,  until  a  li  Time's  up, 
gentlemen,  please,"  from  the  guard,  causes  a 
sudden  scrambling  back  to  the  seats  of  "outsides' 
and  "  insides." 

"  Let  'em  go,"  to  the  ostlers,  and  the  Umpire 
draws  gently  away  on  to  the  crown  of  the  road 
to  continue  her  journey  London  wards. 

Slow  travelling,  the    present   generation    would 


92  OLD  INNS 

call  it ;  but  all  the  same  you  had  real  flesh  and 
blood  drawing  you  on,  and  not  dirty  machinery, 
which  one  cannot  look  at  without  becoming 
smothered  in  oil  and  grease. 

Instead  of  the  hoot  of  the  motor  horn  we 
had  the  guard's  impromptu  performances  on  the 
horn  or  key  bugle,  and  plenty  of  time  to  see  the 
country  from  the  vantage  ground  of  the  top  of 
the  coach,  as  we  pass  merry  quips  and  repartee 
with  those  we  may  meet  on  the  road. 

But  instead  of  remaining  with  the  landlady  at 
The  Bear's  Head,  we  are  driving  Londonwards 
down  the  road  behind  the  fresh  team. 

Let  us  get  back  to  the  inn. 

When  I  arrived  there  about  4.30  one  winter's 
evening,  I  had  no  intention  of  staying  the  night, 
intending  to  go  back  to  Crewe  and  come  out  the 
next  day.  The  fascination  of  the  old  place  in 
the  gathering  dusk  kept  me  rather  longer  than  I 
intended,  and  made  me  ask  the  landlady,  who 
was  in  an  adjoining  yard  feeding  her  chickens, 
if  she  had  a  bedroom,  or  ever  had  people  staying 
at  the  inn.      It  did  not  look  "  busy."     Her  reply 


THE   COUNTRY   INNS  93 

that  a  doctor  and  a  clergyman  always  stayed  there 
for  their  holidays,  and  that  a  room  would  soon 
be  ready  if  I  cared  to  stay,  soon  settled  the 
matter.  A  railway  hotel  at  Crewe  did  not 
sound  inyiting ;  however,  the  fact  that  a  doctor 
made  a  habit  of  staying  at  the  inn  should  vouch 
for  its  hygiene  and  healthiness  ;  a  clergyman  most 
certainly  should  for  its  respectability. 

The  only  guest — I  came  for  one  night  and 
staved  three  davs — to  revel  in  the  luxury  of  great 
log  fires  (it  was  the  time  when  coal  was  difficult 
to  get),  hot-water  bottles  of  extraordinary  shapes 
made  to  fit  odd  corners  of  vour  body,  and  meals 
cooked  as  they  only  could  be  cooked  bv  a  land- 
lady whose  "  hobby  was  cooking.1  Nothing 
was  too  much  trouble,  no  dish  suggested  appar- 
ently impossible  to  procure. 

How  much  nicer  it  is  to  be  an  honoured  guest 
in  the  winter  than  one  of  many  in  the  summer 
months ! — a  mere  number  according  to  vour  room  : 
the  gentleman  in  No.  4,  or  the  lady  in  the 
Cromwell  room.  Personally,  I  never  go  near  an 
old  inn  in  the  summer.     To  my  mind  the  whole 


94  OLD   INNS 

essence  of  an  inn  is  its  feeling  of  cosiness, 
warmth,  and  comfort.  A  good  book  after  dinner, 
and  your  feet  to  a  roaring  log-fire — that's  when 
vou  feel  the  comforts  of  an  inn.  Then,  perhaps, 
ten  minutes  in  the  bar  listening  to  the  local 
celebrities  giving  tongue  before  you  turn  in  be- 
tween the  lavender-scented  sheets. 

I  wish  one  day  some  of  those  politicians  who 
are  advocating  small-holdings  and  barbed-wire 
fences  would  join  me  in  one  of  these  winter 
rambles. 

Fox-hunting  generally  crops  up  somewhere  in 
these  bars. 

"  Seen  the  hounds  to-day,  Bill  ?  They  be  over 
vour  way,  weren't  they  ? ' 

"  Yes,  see'd  'em  fine.  Crossed  right  across 
our  big  meadow — fox,  hounds,  and  all.' 

Then  follows  a  description  of  the  hunt,  and 
later  the  old  hands  smoking  in  the  corner  join  in 
with  "  I  remember  when,"  etc.,  etc. 

At  dozens  of  times  and  in  dozens  of  places  all 
over  the  countrv,  in  Leicestershire  and  the 
provinces,  I  have  listened  to  these  descriptions  in 


THE   COUNTRY   INNS  95 

country  inns  amongst  "country'  men,  but  never 
once  have  I  heard  a  word  against  our  national 
sport,  truly  indeed  now  the  sport  of  kings,  or  of 
future  kings  at  any  rate. 

In  nine  inns  out  of  ten  in  hunting  countries 
fox-hunting  creeps  into  the  bar  conversation 
almost  every  night  in  the  winter. 

In  my  sitting-room,  the  room  with  the 
Georgian  bay  built  out  in  my  sketch,  the  print  of 
the  Liverpool  Umpire  still  hangs  as  it  did  in  1820, 
a  little  discoloured  with  age,  a  little  depressed  on 
account  of  missing  many  of  its  old  friends — the 
heavy  furniture — from  the  room.  There,  however, 
it  still  hangs,  like  an  old  man  whose  friends  have 
died  ofT  and  disappeared  one  by  one,  leaving  him 
only  to  dream  of  the  past. 

At  Chaddesley  Corbet  in  Worcestershire, 
which  is,  according  to  Patterson,  1 2 1  j  miles 
from  London  and  40^  miles  from  Shrewsbury,  I 
found   The   Talbot    Inn.      The  Talbot  has  many    The  Talbot, 

/«  t  .    ,  .  Chad, 

features    that    are    uncommon,    with    two    quaint     . 
porches  at  either  end  of  the  1  6th-centurv  building. 
Like   many    of    these   old    houses,   the   original 


96  OLD  INNS 

structure  does  not  now  all  remain  inn  property,  a 
part,  that  is  the  right-hand  porch  and  building 
beyond  it,  being  let  off  as  a  separate  cottage;  but 
it  is  obvious  to  even  the  casual  observer  that  the 
whole  building  was  at  no  very  distant  date 
included  in  the  inn. 

These  two  porches  are  rather  unique.  I  have 
come  across  nothing  similar  in  my  inn  journeyings. 
But  the  left-hand  one  has  had  to  be  considerably 
repaired,  and  a  good  deal  of  it  is  more  or  less 
modern,  the  original  plaster  and  timbers  having 
in  all  probability  given  way. 

On  a  summer's  evening  these  porches  must 
have  made  a  very  pleasant  resting-place  while  one 
waited  for  the  mail,  stage,  or  wagon.  Now 
we  rest  in  them  while  waiting  for  the  motor-bus ! 

Here,  as  Pepys  would  say,  "  I  dined  well  for 
ten  shillings,"  which  sum,  by  the  by,  included 
bed,  breakfast,  early  morning  tea,  and  garage  fee. 
It  was  sheer  robbery,  but  all  the  price  that  was 
asked  by  mine  host.  Generous  tipping  under 
these  circumstances  becomes  a  pleasure,  even  if  it 
is  only  to  ease  your  conscience. 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  97 

I  really  don't  know  why  we  live  in  houses  of 
our  own  when  we  can  get  other  people  to  take 
over  all  the  domestic  worries  and  troubles  of 
catering,  to  say  nothing  of  the  inevitable  servant 
question,  and  at  the  same  time  keep  us  much 
cheaper  than  we  can  keep  ourselves. 

The  charm  of  " inning'  is  the  glorious 
uncertainty  of  it  ;  at  any  rate  the  uncertainty  of 
"  inning '  in  the  winter,  late  autumn,  and  early 
spring.  In  the  summer  probably  it  is  different — 
things  are  ready  for  you,  you  know  that  at  each 
place  you  visit  you  will  get  a  meal,  even  if  you 
have  to  wait  in  a  queue  to  get  it  and  be  one  of 
a  crowd  instead  of  the  guest. 

Apart  from  its  inn,  the  village  of  Chaddesley 
Corbet  is  a  very  picturesque  one.  It  also  has 
its  moated  house  within  a  mile,  if  you  like 
gazing  at  moated  granges  ;  this  one,  by  the 
by,  being  rather  exciting,  full  of  priest-holes 
and  secret  hiding-places. 

Why  is  it  that  so  many  of  these  old  inns  have 
the  bottom  step  of  the  staircases  by  which  you 
ascend  to  your  bedroom,  eighteen  inches  deep, 


98  OLD   INNS 

and  the  remainder  only  the  usual  six  or  eight 
inches  ?  It  certainly  tests  whether  you  have 
partaken  of  the  wine  that  is  red  or  the  beer  that 
is  golden,  too  generously.  That  may  possibly 
be   the  reason  for   it. 

As  a  warning  I  may  mention  there  is  a  very 
deep  step  at  The  Talbot,  and  also  one  at  The 
Mermaid  at  Rye.      Motorists  and  golfers  beware. 

How  those  old  fellows  who  did  go  to  bed — 
"happy" — ever  managed  to  negotiate  these 
bottom  steps  has  always  been  a  puzzle  to  me. 

From    Chaddesley,    a    short    eight-mile    run 

brings   us   to   Ombersley,  where   there  is  another 

ArmSKin8S  very  ^ne  ^U(ior  inn — The  King's  Arms,  with  a 

Ombersley  delightful     shop     window     next     door — a    shop 

window  which  must  be  quite  as  old  as  its 
companion  the  inn,  and  which  is  full  of 
wonderful  things  for  sale,  just  giving  the 
necessary  colour  to  the  picture. 

I  sketched  them  all  day,  but  never  could  find 
out  what  they  were,  whether  oranges,  red  flannel, 
or  blue  sugar  paper,  but  no  doubt  the  proprietor 
does   a   prosperous   business   with   them,   and  we 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS 


99 


take  off  our  hats  to  him  for  giving  us  so  much 
c *  colour,"  which  I  am  afraid  I  have  but  miserably 
been  able  to  reproduce. 

Some   day    I   want    to   do   a    book   on    village 
shops — the   sort   of  shops  where  they  sell    those 


m 


THE    KINGS   ARMS, 
OMBERSLEY 


comfortable  woollen  slippers  one  used  to  buy  years 
ago.  They  were  made  in  inch  square  checks, 
red   and    white,    black   and    white,    or   blue    and 


ioo  OLD  INNS 

white — the  abomination  of  my  wife  and  the  envy 
of  all  my  male  friends.  List  slippers,  I  think, 
is  their  professional  name. 

There  was  only  one  shop  where  you  could 
buy  the±n  ;  a  shop  like  this  one  at  Ombersley, 
a  little  place  in  Brentford,  where  the  barges  come 
from.  Brentford  skippers  and  myself,  were,  I 
believe,  the  chief  slipper  customers.  If  only  I 
could  find  another  shop — this  old  one  has  long 
since  disappeared — I  would  buy  the  whole  stock, 
but  I  am  afraid  the  making  of  list  slippers  is  a 
forgotten  art. 

This,  however,  is  not  of  inns,  although  these 
slippers  go  wonderfully  well  in  them. 

Like  Chaddesley,  Ombersley,  apart  from  its 
Tudor  inn,  is  worth  a  visit — a  broad  street  with 
some  very  interesting  buildings. 

About  a  quarter  of  a  mile  outside  the  village 
The  Halfway        is  a   small  inn   called  The  Halfway  House.    It  is 

House,  r    •  r-  i \  jr     •  •      i 

Ombersley  or  interest    on    account   or  much   or    its   timber 

being  paint  instead  of  wood.  Evidently  the 
decorator  who  painted  it  thought,  as  black  and 
white  half-timber  buildings  were   so  fashionable 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  101 

in  the  district,  this  inn  ought  to  be  in  the 
fashion.  Or  it  may  have  been  that  the  owner 
was  a  little  jealous  of  The  King's  Arms  in  the 
village.  At  any  rate  sham  timbers  have  been 
painted  over  the  already  white-painted  brick- 
work, and  to-day  the  inn  stands  apparently  a 
half-timber  building.  Although  a  fake,  as  far 
as  the  front  of  the  house  is  concerned,  it  is  a 
picturesque  one.  Apparently  the  fashion  in  black 
and  white  houses   is   like  the  fashion  in  pearls — 


■^ 


I 


I  HE   HALFWAY   HO! 
OMBERSLEY 


102 


OLD  INNS 


THE  BELL   INN, 
TEWKESBURY 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS 


GABLES   AT 
TEWKESBURY 


IO3 

if  you  can't  own 
the  genuine  article, 
you  get  an  imita- 
tion, difficult,  ex- 
cept at  close  quar- 
ters, to  discover. 

From  Ombersley 
I  journeyed  on  to 
Tewkesbury,  and 
to  The  Bell  Inn. 

This  is  a  house, 
like  The  Maypole 
at  Chigwell,  that  is 
celebrated  in  fiction. 
At  least  so  we  are 
told  in  a  notice 
affixed  outside;  but 
to  my  shame  I  must 
admit  to  not  having 
read  "  John  Halifax, 
Gentleman,"  the 
well-known  novel 
which  helps  to  give 


The  Bell  Inn, 
Tewkesburv. 


104 


OLD  INNS 


UPPER  PART   OF   THE 
BERKELEY  ARMS, 
TEWKESBURY 


the   inn   its   celebrity.       The  upper  story  of  The 
Berkeley  Arms  should  also  be  seen. 
ArmSLiwiway         At  Tne  Lygon  Arms,  Broadway,  we  have  the 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  105 

old  inn  "de  luxe."  Here,  in  a  beautiful 
setting,  we  find  the  creature  comforts  of  a 
modern  hotel,  together  with  odd  nooks  and 
corners  most  carefully  tended  and  preserved.  In 
1775  the  immortal  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  told  us  : 
"  There  is  nothing  that  has  yet  been  contrived 
by  man  by  which  so  much  happiness  is  produced 
as  by  a  good  tavern  or  inn" — remarks  most 
certainly  applicable  to  The  Lygon  Arms  to-day. 
In  the  winter  you  sit  in  front  of  large  open 
fire-places — free  from  draughts  and  well  lit — a 
thing  that  cannot  always  be  said  of  the  majority 
of  these  chimney  corners  where,  I  am  bound  to 
admit,  you  usually  get  your  feet  scorched  and 
the  back  of  your  neck  frozen,  or  find  yourself 
unable  to  see  to  read  when  sitting  by  the  fire 
on  account  of  inadequate  lighting  arrangements. 

At  The  Lygon  Arms  all  this  has  been  altered  j 
central  heating  and  electric  light— both  unob- 
trusively hidden — save  you  from  cold  and 
darkness,  while  the  old  world  effect  of  the  inn 
remains. 

Treasured    pieces    of    furniture    surround    you 


o6 


OLD  INNS 


which  are  never  disposed  of,  even  to  the  ubiqui- 
tous American. 

I  made  many  attempts   to   sketch  The   Lygon 
Arms — all    of   which    were    discarded    with    the 


THE   LYGON   ARMS, 
BROADWAY 


exception  of  the  one  reproduced  here.  To  me, 
the  inn  is  Broadway.  Its  feeling  of  bigness 
makes  it  look  like  a  parent  to  the  wide  streeted 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  107 

village  with  its  background  of  purple  hills,  and 
any  sketches  of  the  inn  without  its  family  and 
surroundings  failed  to  give  me  the  feeling  I  had 
for  the  house.  Only  a  sketch  of  the  whole 
village  itself  seemed  to  give  what  I  wanted,  with 
the  parent  house  and  the  family  of  smaller  houses 
clustered  round  it. 

In  the  visitors  book  at  The  Lygon  Arms  (or 
to  give  it  its  original  title,  The  Whyte  Harte  Inn) 
we  find  many  distinguished  names ;  almost  every- 
one who  is  anyone  seems  to  have  stayed  at  the 
inn  at  one  time  or  another,  but  the  delightful 
little  sketch  of  the  late  Phil  May's,  which  hangs 
in  the  ante-room  at  the  entrance,  will  always 
bring  a  smile  to  the  most  dyspeptic  disposition. 

"  Phil,"  to  use  the  name  by  which  every  one 
knew  him,  went  to  Broadway  for  rest  and 
quietness,  and  drew  this  picture  of  quiet  Broad- 
way, full  of  barrel  organs,  German  bands,  street 
hawkers  ;   certainly  a  libel  to-day. 

I  don't  think  sleepy  Broadway  could  ever  have 
been  as  noisy  as  poor  Phil  depicted  it. 

The    last    time    I    met    him,   habited    in    the 


108  OLD  INNS 

gayest  of  gay  check  riding  breeches,  we  fore- 
gathered at  Romano's — you  always  had  to 
foregather  when  you  met  Phil — and  at  the  bar 
stood  the  usual  daily  collection  of  loungers 
then  always  to  be  found  there. 

As  we  passed  down  their  line  to  the  far  end 
every  head  was  turned  towards  us  with  a  "  Good 
morning,  Phil,"  and  as  all  the  habitue's  of  the  bar 
greeted  him,  Phil  "  stood  "  the  expected  cigar  or 
drink.  When  we  finally  arrived  at  the  top  end 
of  the  bar,  I  asked  him  if  he  knew  all  the  twenty 
loungers  well  ;   if  they  were  all  pals. 

"  Know  them  ? '  said  Phil,  "  not  one  of 
them,  but  they  all  know  me." 

The  most  generous  soul  alive  ;  that  is  how  he 
went  through  life.  Even  in  Broadway  he  would 
go  out  into  the  street  scattering  shillings  to  the 
children,  until  finally  they  waited  outside  the 
inn  each  morning  in  a  queue  until  Phil  appeared. 
A  man  who  would  give  his  last  shilling  to 
anyone  who  asked  him. 

One  morning  an  importunate  friend  wanted  to 
give  Phil  a  dog.      Now  Phil  was  not  really  what 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  109 

is  known  as  a  "  doggy  "  man,  but  to  appease  his 
friend  he  thanked  him,  accepted  it,  and  asked 
him  to  send  the  dog  to  his  stables,  then  in 
Melbury  Road.  Later,  when  he  got  home,  he  left 
a  message  with  his  man  that  if  a  dog  arrived  he 
did  not  want  it,  and  the  groom  could  do  what  he 
liked  with  it.  Phil  never  saw  it  or  heard  any 
more  about  it,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  he 
started  for  a  trip  to  Australia. 

About  a  year  afterwards  his  friend  met  him  in 
town. 

"  Well,  Phil,"  said  he,  "how's  the  dog  I  gave 
you  getting  on  P  " 

"  Dog  ? '  said  Phil,  having  forgotten  all  about 
the  gift. 

"  Yes.  The  one  I  gave  you  about  twelve 
months  ago." 

"  Oh  yes,"  said  Phil,  as  he  remembered  the 
incident,  "  he's  grown  a  great  big  dog  now. 
You  wouldn't  recognize  him,"  at  the  same 
time  flattening  his  hand  out  about  two  feet  and 
a  half  from  the  ground  to  indicate  the  size  of  a 
Great  Dane  or  St.  Bernard. 


no  OLD  INNS 

"Hum!'  said  his  friend  thoughtfully,  " but  he 
was  a  very  old  dog  when  I  gave  him  to  you." 

The  history  of  The  Lygon  Arms  has  been 
most  carefully  recorded  by  Mr.  S.  B.  Russell, 
the  owner,  and  I  cannot  do  better  than  trespass 
upon  the  excellent  booklet  on  the  house  which 
he  and  his  two  sons  have  compiled. 

In  this  I  see  that  Broadway  is  ninety  miles  from 
London,  but  my  friend  Patterson  makes  it  ninety- 
four  miles  from  Hyde  Park  corner — and  the  earliest 
record  is  that  in  1604  John  Travise  bought 
the  YN,  then  known  as  The  Whyte  Harte,  and 
in  1 64 1,  this  gentleman  was  buried  in  Broadway 
Church,  where  a  quaintly  inscribed  brass  records 
the  fact  of  his  death.  Then  the  house  seems  to 
have  stayed  in  the  same  family,  passing  from 
father,  widow,  son,  and  so  on,  until  1734. 

During  the  troublous  times  of  the  Civil  War, 
Dame  Ursula  Treavis,  widow  of  "  John  Treavis ' 
(who  was  a  descendant  of  "  John  Travise"  (sic) 
who  died   in    1641),    was    buried    in    Broadway 
Church  thirteen  years  afterwards. 

She  it  was  who,   with   the  help  of  her   son, 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  in 

had,  at  this  period,  to  find  food  and  lodging  (at 
different  times  be  it  said)  for  both  Charles  the 
First  and  Cromwell. 

In  1734  John  Trevis  had  the  inn.  So  that 
from  1604  to  1734,  the  Trevis, — Travise, — 
Travers, — Treavis — family  were  in  possession  of 
it,  notwithstanding  that  in  the  old  Broadway 
register    the    name    is    always    spelt    differently. 

Besides  the  record  of  the  Broadway  register 
we  have  other  proof  of  the  occupation  by  this 
family.  The  Jacobean  entrance  doorway  has  the 
names  of  both  John  and  Ursula  Treavis  (the 
orthography  of  the  parish  clerk  in  the  Broadway 
register  must  have  been  at  fault  here)  and  the 
date  by  the  side  of  their  names,  a.  d.   1620. 

Also  when  workmen  were  restoring  part  of 
the  building  a  wooden  apple-scoop,  carved  with 
the  name  "  an  treavis,"  was  found  among  other 
interesting  relics,  and  in  one  of  the  bedrooms, 
when  the  paint  was  taken  off  some  heavily  daubed 
mullions,  the  initials  T.  T.,  probably  Thomas 
Treavis,  were  found  over  dates  ranging  from 
1620  to  1624. 


ii2  OLD  INNS 

In  1767  one  Giles  Attwood  was  the  landlord, 
and  in  1793  "  The  Whyte  Harte  Inn  belonged 
to  and  in  the  occupation  of  Mr.  Christopher 
Holmes "  is  recorded. 

His  widow  sold  it  in  1806  to  an  Evesham 
solicitor,  and  it  subsequently  changed  hands 
many  times,  until  the  present  owner  purchased 
and  restored  it  in  1903. 

All  of  which  is  given  with  other  details  about 
the  house  in  "  The  Story  of  an  Old  English 
Hostelry,"  to  be  procured  at  the  inn. 

According  to  the  visitors'  records,  kings  and 
queens  seem  to  have  been  quite  ordinary  visitors. 
All  the  Georges,  King  Edward,  as  well  as  our 
most  popular  Prince,  with  his  brother  Prince 
Henry,  have  paid  it  a  visit,  and  of  the  ordinary 
"  nobility  and  gentry,"  as  friend  Patterson  has  it, 
their  name  is  legion,  besides  art,  literature, 
music,  and  the  drama,  all  are  fully  represented 
in  its  inn  records. 

Good  food,  comfort,  and  beautiful  old-world 
surroundings  make  The  Lygon  Arms  the  premier 
country  inn  in  the  United  Kingdom. 


IX 


ONLY  a  few  miles  out  of  London,  on  The  Bull. 
the  Dover  Road,  is  the  Bull  at 
Dartford,  a  relic  of  the  coaching  age. 
A  house  that  has  entertained  at 
different  times  of  its  history  the  owners  of  many 
of  the  historic  names  in  naval  history,  besides 
hosts  of  travellers  of  every  grade  of  life  on  this 
great  highway. 

When  standing  in  the  spacious  court- vard, 
around  the  gallery  of  which  would  flit  the  busy 
chambermaids  and  waiters,  it  requires  even  now 
verv  little  imagination  to  recall  those  davs  of  the 
road,  and  there  is  a  vastness  about  the  place — a 
dozen  or  more  coaches  could  drive  into  its  vard 


H 


H4 


OLD  INNS 


THE   BULL, 
DARTFORD 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  115 

without  overcrowding — which  gives  one  a  feeling 
of  the  immense  size  of  these  inn  court-yards. 

Outside,  facing  the  street,  The  Bull  has  a 
strong  resemblance  to  The  Bull  at  Rochester, 
well  known  to  all  Dickensians — both  with  their 
rows  of  large  high  windows  on  the  ground  and 
first  floors — suggesting  the  Queen  Anne  period  of 
architecture. 

But  the  Dartford  Bull  has  seen  better  days. 
At  present  buildings  and  factories  surround  it, 
and  it  is  not  now  the  busy  house  for  the  traveller 
that  it  was  in  coaching  times. 

I  doubt  if  you  could  get  a  bed  there  or  a 
dinner,  and  certainly  you  would  find  difficulty  to 
get  stabling  for  your  horse  if  you  had  one,  where 
at  one  time  a  hundred  horses  were  generally 
in  the  stables. 

Even  the  motor-car  does  not  come  much 
to  its  hospitable  doors,  the  inn  being  too  near 
London  to  attract  them. 

There  is  at   Tonbridge  a   very  fine   inn,  The    J^b^equers' 
Chequers  ;    but  this,  like  The  Bull  at  Dartford, 
is  not  now  at  its  best.      Much  of  the  lower  part  has 


n6 


OLD  INNS 


THE   CHEQUERS   INN, 
TONBRIDGE 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  117 

been  altered  or  badly  restored,  and  it  suffered, 
when  the  time  came  for  them  to  be  renewed, 
like  so  many  of  these  old  houses,  in  having 
sash  windows  put  in,  in  place  of  its  original 
lattice  frames. 

The  half-timber  of  the  upper  part  of  the  building 
is  still  good,  although  marred  by  a  large  amount 
of  horrible  red  paint  on  it. 

For  all  that  there  is  a  quaint  old-world 
atmosphere  about  the  place,  and  at  one  time  no 
doubt  it  was  the  inn  of  the  village  of  Tonbridge. 

Whenever  I  go  into  Kent  I  can  never  keep 
away  from  what  I  call  the  most  beautiful  village 
in  England — Chiddingstone.  The  village  proper 
only  consists  of  about  six  houses,  an  inn,  and 
a  church;  but  what  more  do  you  want  if  they 
are  all  perfect  ? 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  arrived 
at   The   Castle    Inn,    intending    to   tea  and   then    I!1?,  Jastlf  Inn> 

*  o  Chiddingstone 

wander  on  towards  Rye,  but  the  fascination 
of  Chiddingstone  held  me,  and  my  luggage  was 
soon  installed  inside  the  house. 

There  are   some  few  villages  in  England   that 


n8 


OLD  INNS 


i      w 


■^         i~- 


V0 


' 


r  fi 


in 


CHIDDINGSTONE 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  119 

one  never  gets  tired  of  seeing,  and  Chiddingstone 
is  one  of  them  ;   to  me  it  is  the  one. 

I  know  the  reader  will  say  that  it  has  been 
so  often  painted  ;  in  most  Royal  Academy 
exhibitions  you  can  see  it  under  various  titles, 
but  it  is  so  beautiful,  and  such  a  perfect  specimen 
of  a  Tudor  village,  that  even  this  cannot  make  it 
hackneyed . 

All  my  life  I  have  made  pilgrimages  to 
The  Castle  Inn,  having  seen  it  under  various 
landlords,  but  always  when  I  go,  I  stay  the 
night,  if  only  to  see  the  sunset  from  the  top 
of  the  village  street,  and  to  sleep  in  my  favourite 
room,  with  its  beams  and  quaint  little  window 
almost  level  with  the  floor. 

The  inn,  although  dating  back  to  the 
seventeenth  century,  is  not  in  itself  particularly 
"  paintable,,!  but  the  adjoining  houses,  which 
for  our  purpose  we  must  surmise  have  at  one 
time  been  an  inn,  are  things  to  dream  about. 

This  house  has  so  often  appeared  in  pictures 
as  an  inn  that  the  deception  is  permissible, 
and  even  if  the  house  has  not  a  licence,  a  traveller 


Rye 


1 20  OLD  INNS 

can    get    board    and    lodging    there    should    he 
require  it. 

For  a  quiet  rest  from  strikes  and  other  evils, 
give  me  this  village  and  The  Castle  Inn,  whether 
you  be  writer,  artist,  or  business  man. 

"  The  world  forgotten,  by  the  world  forgot,'' 
is    truly    the    motto    of    Chiddingstone,    and    in 
these   strenuous   times  that  is  the  place  many  of 
us  are  seeking. 
The  Mermaid,  All  good  golfers  know  The  Mermaid  at  Rye 

— but    not    being  a   good  golfer    I    only  knew 
her  by  reputation. 

Once  in  Rye,  you  step  right  into  the  middle 
ages.  That  is  to  say,  you  need  not  imagine  it, 
you  need  not  even  close  your  eyes  and  dream  it. 

It's  just  there — medievalism — staring  you  in 
the  face.  At  each  corner  you  expect  to  see 
men  in  trunk  and  hose,  and  heavily  booted 
swashbuckling  pirates  appear  to  greet  you.  That 
was  my  impression  when  I  started  to  look 
for  The  Mermaid. 

I  first  began  to  look  for  her  from  my  car, 
but   inhabitants    directing    me   up    the    side    of 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS 


121 


THE   MERMAID, 
RYE 


122  OLD  INNS 

impossible  cobbled  precipices  I  thought  better 
of  it,  stabled  my  conveyance  (shades  of  motorists, 
what  an  expression!)  and  looked  for  the  tickle 
jade  on  foot. 

Mermaids  are  proverbially  shy,  and  the  Rye 
Mermaid  upholds  the  traditions  of  her  race. 

Up  a  narrow  cobbled  street,  but  a  street  like 
all  Rye  streets,  so  beautiful  that  you  immediately 
begin  to  think  about  house-agents  and  see  if  any 
houses  are  to  let,  you  climb  on  the  directions 
the  oldest  inhabitant  has  given  you  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill. 

When  at  the  top  there  is  only  one  house  that 
looks  like  a  Mermaid,  the  sign  is  that  of  a  Sea- 
serpent  as  far  as  you  can  gather — but  don't 
let  that  deter  you — step  right  in. 

Once  inside,  however,  you  discover  that  your 
surmise  is  correct,  and  if  you  do  in  the  dusk 
of  the  entrance  mistake  the  authoress-landlady 
who  welcomes  you  for  the  mermaid  herself,  you 
must  put  it  down  to  the  out-of-breath  state  of 
health  you  are  in,  after  your  precipitous  climb. 

But  the  inn  is  a  comfortable  Mermaid   withal 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  123 

— peradventure  a  Mermaid  with  a  little  age  about 
her — notwithstanding  that  she  is  full  of  golfers  in 
the  most  modern  of  those  garments  known  as 
"  plus  ones/' 

Here  also,  as  at  Broadway,  creature  comforts 
are  carefully  attended  to  (it  is  a  great  house  for 
golfers);  but  also  like  Broadway,  its  old-world 
feeling — every  inch  of  it — is  retained. 

Often  has  it  been  said  to  me  when  I  have 
been  expatiating  on  " inning":  "You  cannot  get 
comfort  at  your  old  inns.  No  bath-rooms 
or  electric  lighting,"  etc.  All  these  things, 
however,  can  be  done,  and  are  done,  if  only  the 
owner  knows  iow  to  do  them.  Electric  light, 
central  heating,  bath-rooms,  are  all  ugly — plain, 
but  useful — but  if  judiciously  hidden,  they  can 
still  be  there  to  minister  to  the  creature  comforts 
of  man — and  woman. 

At  The  Mermaid  this  is  done — done  well — 
and  done  unobtrusively. 

Like  many  of  these  old  houses,  the  back  view 
is  the  best.  To  say  this  of  a  mermaid  may  seem 
wanting   in  politeness,  but  nevertheless  it  is  true. 


124  OLD    INNS 

Rather  like  Bruce  Bairnsfather's  Ole  Bill  joke, 
"  I  like  the  one  in  the  gas  mask  the  best." 

For  all  that,  the  backs  of  many  old  houses  are 
often  far  more  interesting  than  the  front  that 
shows,  as  in  many  cases  of  bad  restoration  or 
alteration  this  has  been  done  at  the  front  of  the 
house  only,  and  the  back  portion  has  been  left 
more  or  less  unaltered. 

Come  up  the  steep  path — but  they  are  all 
steep  paths  in  Rye — from  the  High  Street 
and  you  see  the  view  I  have  taken,  with  its 
flagged  path  up  to  the  timbered  building;  the 
way  the  smugglers  who  frequented  The  Mermaid 
probably  came  up.  That  is  the  most  picturesque 
view  of  the  house — notwithstanding  certain  latter- 
day  alterations  that  appear  even  in  the  back 
premises.  Go  into  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Billiards  room,  with  its  fifteen-foot  beam  across 
the  open  fire-place,  and  on  a  winter's  day  you 
can  almost  see  the  smugglers  and  fishermen  sitting 
round  its  fire. 

Evidence  of  the  house's  Tudor  origin  is  found 
on  the  old  beams  and  panelling  in  many  of  the 


THE   COUNTRY  INNS 


125 


rooms,  where  we  find  the  well-known  Tudor  rose 
carved  in  many  places.  In  some  of  the  rooms  there 
is  also  some  fine  linen  pattern  panelling,  besides 
a  secret  staircase,  smugglers'  well,  and  steps  up 
and  down  where  you  least  expect  them. 


*->*»!  t 


INTERIOR, 

THE   MERMAID,    RYE 


Also  like  The  Talbot  at  Chaddesley  Corbet, 
beware  of  the  bottom  step  when  ascending 
to  your  bedroom. 

Surely  inns  like  this  are  English  institutions. 


126  OLD  INNS 

They  should  be  preserved  as  zealously  as  some 
of  those  old  houses  which  have  been  purchased  by 
the  Society  for  the  Preservation  of  Old  and  His- 
torical Buildings  ;  and  yet  we  find,  some  years 
ago,  that  the  Globe  Room  at  The  Reindeer 
Inn  at  Banbury  was  allowed  to  be  purchased 
by  an  American  Syndicate  and  shipped,  lock, 
stock,  and  barrel,  across  the  "  Herring  Pond." 

All  we  have  left  of  this  unique  room  at 
Banbury,  is,  as  I  said  before,  a  replica  of  its  plaster 
ceiling,  now  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 

And  now  one  hears  that  the  same  or  a  similar 
syndicate  have  endeavoured  to  purchase  The 
Mermaid  (I  don't  think  yet  the  rest  of  Rye  with 
it)  from  its  present  owner,  and  propose  shipping 
her,  the  inn,  not  the  owner,  to  America, 
together  with  all  her  secret  staircases,  panelling, 
and  chimney  corners. 

I  hope  the  tentative  offer  will  not  become  too 
tempting,  but  America  is  a  persistent  nation,  and 
what  she  wants  she  bids  for,  and  if  there  is 
money  in  it,  bids  for,  and  bids  for  again,  until 
finally  she  may  get  it. 


THE   COUNTRY  INNS  127 

Some  time  ago,  an  Old  Inn  Society  was 
inaugurated,  and  one  of  its  raisons  d'etre,  among 
many  others,  was  to  watch,  and  in  some  cases 
help,  these  old  houses. 

Negotiations  sometimes  begin  ;  no  one  hears 
of  them,  and  finally,  as  in  the  case  of  The  Reindeer 
Inn,  we  find  our  treasure  steaming  away  to 
America  or  some  other  country. 

From  what  I  can  remember  of  this  Old  Inn 
Society,  its  tenets  were  sound — a  fixed  tariff  for 
members  ;  free  advice  by  the  Society's  architects 
where  alterations  or  additions  were  contemplated 
in  these  old  buildings  ;  together  with  information 
in  connexion  with  old  furniture  in  keeping 
with  inn  rooms.  Every  member  had  the  historical 
booklets  which  so  many  of  these  inns  now  publish. 

Even  during  the  winter  months  I  have  con- 
stantly met  travellers  like  myself,  who  go  from 
old  inn  to  old  inn,  taking  a  holiday  in  that  way. 

An  Old  Inn  Society  would  help  the  inn-keeper 
who  studied  his  house  and  the  comfort  of  his 
guests,  besides  being  possibly  of  considerable  use 
to  him  with  the  help  of  free  expert   knowledge 


128  OLD  INNS 

in  regard  to  any  additions  or  renovations  the 
landlord  might  wish  to  make. 

There  is  so  much  history  attached  to  Cinque 
Port  Rye,  and  to  The  Mermaid,  that  many 
days  had  to  be  spent  there.  And  what  more 
enjoyable  than  to  sit  over  a  roaring  log  fire  and 
read  the  history  of  the  place  during  the  long 
winter  evening  ?  Rye  is  full  of  guide  books, 
many  of  which  will  have  the  greatest  interest  for 
the  traveller  and  give  him  all  the  information 
and  historical  facts  about  this  wonderful  old 
town,  when  he  has  finished  exploring  the  secret 
staircases  and  passages  of  The  Mermaid  Inn. 

Near  Lewes,  between  Lewes  and   Eastbourne, 

tucked  away  among  the  Sussex  hills,  lies  the  snug 

little  village  of  Alfriston,  and  in  Alfriston  is  an 

inn. 

The  Star  inn,  Some  years  ago  I  visited  this  Star  Inn  when  it 

was  a  plastered  building  with  only  a  small  amount 
of  timber  showing  on  its  venerable  face.  But 
when  after  leaving  Rye  for  Alfriston  I  found  my 
previously  stuccoed  Star  wonderfully  improved  in 
appearance. 


Alfriston 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  129 

Here  was  a  case  where  an  old  house — 
obviously  an  old  half-timbered  house — had  had, 
some  twenty,  thirty  or  more  years  ago,  plaster 
stuck  all  over  its  beautiful  timber  work  by  some 
goth  of  a  village  builder. 

A  new  owner  had  purchased  it,  Charlie  Wood 
the  ex -jockey ;  and,  all  honour  to  him,  he  has  had 
the  disfiguring  plaster  carefully  removed  (as  in 
the  case  of  The  George  at  Salisbury),  once  more 
bringing  The  Star  Inn's  heavily-timbered  front 
to  its  original  Tudor  appearance. 

This  is  a  case  of  judicious  and  improving 
renovation  or  restoration,  whichever  you  like  to 
call  it. 

The  little  inn  is  now  a  joy,  it  was  a  pleasure 
even  before,  to  all  artists,  authors  and  connoisseurs. 

Now  besides  this  there  is  a  moral,  or  at  any 
rate  a  verbum  sap.,  to  innkeepers  of  old  houses. 

Although  it  was  still  in  what  are  known  as  the 
winter  months,  the  house  was  full — there  were 
no  bedrooms  available — also  they  had  been  full 
all  the  winter,  and  on  inquiry  I  found  the 
American  nation  again  strongly  in  evidence. 


130 


OLD   INNS 


*^'"-^».^ 


THE   STAR, 
ALFRISTON 


Nothing-  daunted,  however,  I  took  a  bedroom 
out — dined  in  the  inn,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  mine  host  turn  away  two  other  travellers 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  131 

who  wanted  to  be  put  up  at  the  hospice  for  the 
night.  Here  I  spent  two  days  sitting  in  my  car 
outside  the  inn  to  read,  mark,  and  learn  the 
beauties  of  its  wonderful  and  picturesque  exterior. 

The  quaint  ship's  figurehead,  which  still  stands 
at  the  corner  of  the  building,  seems  in  character 
with  the  house,  although  no  doubt  it  was  put 
there  at  a  much  later  period  than  the  date  of  the 
rest  of  the  building. 

More  especially  is  this  so,  as  the  front  has 
curiously  carved  and  tinted  miniature  gargoyles 
at  various  points  of  the  timber-work.  These 
in  some  way  make  the  figurehead  mentioned 
still  more  in  keeping. 

The  Star  was  evidently  of  monastic  origin,  as 
it  has  the  I.H.S.  carved  on  some  of  its  beams. 
A  date  is  also  carved  on  the  front  of  the  house, 
A.D.  1520.  In  fact  it  was  originally  believed  to 
have  been  a  refectory.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
this  again,  like  The  Mermaid,  was  a  house 
used  by  the  smugglers  on  the  Sussex  coast. 
In  fact,  tradition  has  it  that  a  secret  passage  still 
exists  from  the  building  to  some  place  nearer  the 


132  OLD  INNS 

sea,  probably  the  site  of  the  original  monastery, 
which  was  subsequently  used  by  smugglers. 

It  may  be  only  tradition,  but  at  any  rate,  the 
salt  of  the  sea  is  stamped  all  over  the  inn,  and 
from  the  figurehead  alone,  no  doubt  it  was  at 
one  time  much  used  by  sailormen. 

Now,  Alfriston  is  a  big  training  centre,  and  the 
parlour  and  bar  are  filled  with  trainers  and  stable 
lads  who  discuss  weights  and  winners,  in  the  place 
of  French  brandy  and  other  contraband  goods. 

Sportsmen  all,  and  more  than  ever  sportsmen 
that  one  of  their  number  should  have  preserved 
so  beautiful  an  old  house. 

From  The  Star  Inn  to  the  charming  old 
The  Spread  Sussex   town   of  Midhurst  and  its   Spread   Eagle 

Midhurst'  Inn  was  my  next  journey.      And  although  The 

Spread  Eagle  may  not  in  its  exterior  make  so 
interesting  a  sketch  as  the  Alfriston  inn,  its 
interior  well  repays  a  visit. 

The  late  King  Edward  must  have  been  rather 
interested  in  these  old  inns  himself,  as  in  so  many 
cases  we  find  that  he  paid  them  a  visit,  just  to 
see  their  homely  interiors. 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  133 

The  Spread  Eagle  has,  among  others,  this 
honour — as  the  late  King  on  at  least  two  occasions, 
when  visiting  Midhurst,  stopped  and  went  over 
the  old  house. 

Many  years  ago,  when  as  a  struggling  art 
student  I  was  living  at  Midhurst,  the  greater 
portion  of  this  house  was  let  off  as  cottages. 
Now  the  whole  block  of  buildings,  and  no  doubt 
originally  it  was  all  part  of  the  inn  proper,  has 
been  taken  back  by  the  owner,  making  the  house 
of  some  considerable  size. 

The  question  of  which  is  the  oldest  inn  has 
so  often  arisen,  and  so  many  lay  claim  to  it,  that 
it  is  difficult  definitely  to  say,  but  The  Spread 
Eagle  at  Midhurst,  one  of  the  "  oldest  inn" 
claimants,  certainly  is  very  strongly  in  the  running. 

As  far  as  I  can  remember  the  title  deeds  of 
The  Saracen's  Head  at  Newark  go  back  to  1  3  4 1 . 
Then  The  Fighting  Cocks  at  St.  Albans  also 
claims  to  be  the  oldest  inhabited  inn  of  to-day, 
over  1000  years  old.  The  Angel  at  Grantham 
originally  belonged  to  the  Knights  Templars,  and 
would  date  back  to  the  eleventh  century.      The 


i34  OLD   INNS 

Ostrich  Inn  at  Colnbrook  dates  to  somewhere 
near  this  period,  and  The  George  at  Glastonbury 
dates  to  1489.  The  Fountain  Inn  at  Canterbury 
is  where  the  assassins  of  Thomas  a  Becket  are  said 
to  have  stayed  in  11 70,  and  the  Ambassador  of 
Germany  eulogized  it  in  1299. 

And  then  we  find  some  of  the  carvings  on  our 
old  friend  The  George  at  Salisbury  dated  1320, 
and  The  George  at  Norton  St.  Philip  goes 
back  to  1397.  So  there  is  plenty  of  material 
for  antiquaries  to  work  on. 

Apart  from  this,  The  Spread  Eagle  no  doubt 
goes  back  as  far  as  1430,  and  there  is  also 
authentic  evidence  that  Queen  Elizabeth  stayed 
there  in  Tudor  times. 

Of  a  later  period,  we  find  a  powder  cupboard, 
where  you  put  your  head  through  a  hole  to  have 
it  powdered  and  greased. 

Something,  however,  is  almost  always  to  be 
found  in  these  interesting  houses  which  shows 
the  passing  of  the  centuries  over  their  venerable 
old  heads. 

Relics  found  in  the  rafters  when  restoring,  dates 


THE  COUNTRY   INNS  135 

f 

Ik 


?F 


•1 


.«: 


■  •' 


THE  AN'CHOR  INN, 
LIPHOOK 


on  panelling  or  beams,  powder  cupboards,  secret 
staircases  made  by  monks  or  smugglers,  all  make 
them  doubly  interesting  to  those  of  antiquarian  tastes. 


136  OLD   INNS 

One  of  the  most  typical  of  the  Queen  Anne 
inns  is  The  Anchor  at  Liphook. 

Here,  as  at  The  Bull  at  Dartford,  we 
are  brought  into  the  coaching  age,  leaving 
monks  and  monasteries  far  back  in  the  dim 
ages  behind   us. 

At  The  Anchor  we  can  think  of  nothing  but 
the  rattle  of  the  bars  and  pole-chains,  and  the 
merry  notes  of  the  guard's  horn,  as  the  Portsmouth 
coaches  come  rattling  down  the  road. 

Sailors  and  coaches,  with  a  few  kings  and 
queens  thrown  in,  that  is  how  The  Anchor 
strikes  you  as  you  sit  in  front  of  it  in  the  shade 
of  its  enormous  chestnut  tree,  or  wander  into  its 
glorious  garden  backed  by  the  Sussex  hills. 

One  can  see  the  news  of  a  naval  victory  being 
brought  to  London  by  coach,  before  the  days  of 
the  electric  telegraph  and  railways. 

"  See  the  Conquering  Hero  Comes,"  we  hear 
on  the  guard's  horn  long  before  we  see  the 
horses  appear  round  the  bend  of  the  road,  to 
pull  up  at  The  Anchor. 

As  the   coach  comes   into  view,  we  see  flags 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


137 


and  streamers  waving  from  its  roof,  enormous 
bouquets  in  the  coats  of  the  guard  and  coachman, 
similar  to  the  usual  first  of  May  floral  decorations 
of  these  the  gentlemen  of  the  mails. 


j&m'** 


THE  ANCHOR   INN, 
LIPHOOK 


Out  rushes  the  village — and  the  inn — ostlers, 
maids,  travellers,  "  tinker,  tailor,  soldier,  sailor,1' 
etc.,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  place,  cheerino- 
lustily  themselves,  as  the  coachman  pulls  up  with 


138  OLD  INNS 

a  flourish  on  the  cobbles  in  front  of  The  Anchor ; 
for  all  the  world  at  Liphook  would  at  once  know 
the  meaning  of  the  bedecked  and  beflagged  mail, 
the  cheering  passengers  and  horn-blowing  guard. 
Three  minutes  for  a  change  from  the  inn  stabling 
where  sixty-six  horses  often  stood,  and  away  the 
fresh  team  gallops  again  up  the  hill  towards 
Hindhead  and  London,  every  village  cheering  as 
she  passes  through  spreading  the  news  as  she 
goes.  Then  the  gossip  and  health-drinking  of 
the  crowd  of  villagers  outside  The  Anchor ; 
the  cheers  for  Nelson — a  well-known  figure  at 
the  house — cheers  for  the  fleet,  cheers  for 
every  one,  which  last  the  rest  of  the  day  as 
further  news  drifts  through  from  Portsmouth, 
keeping  mine  host  busy  at  his  barrels  and  bottles, 
and  the  fine  Queen  Anne  house  beaming  down 
on  it  all. 

As  one  sits  at  this  bend  of  the  road  one 
cannot  help  seeing  it.  The  inn,  the  road  itself, 
is  redolent  of  the  coaches.  Of  motorists  and 
cyclists,  what  can  this  Queen  Anne  house  know 
of  them  ? 


THE    COUNTRY    INNS  139 

In  my  list  of  oldest  inns  I  fear  I  omitted  The 
Anchor,  as  I  see  its  earliest  records  show  that 
Edward  II  is  supposed  to  have  visited  it  in 
a.d.  1 3 10,  and  Charles  II  on  his  way  to 
Plymouth  at  a  later  date.  I  say  supposed,  as 
they  certainly  never  visited  this  building,  or  any- 
thing like  it,  as  it  stands  to-day. 

That  good  and  sporting  Queen  Anne  is  cer- 
tainly its  architectural  godmother,  and  was  herself 
often  a  visitor  to  it  when  stag-hunting  in  Woolmer 
Forest  near-by. 

Like  many  of  these  houses,  The  Anchor  has 
the  remains  of  its  own  brewhouse  in  the 
building,  but  it  has  not  so  sinister  a  reputation 
as  The  Ostrich  brewhouse  at  Colnbrook.  One 
gets  so  tired  of  the  long  list  of  Sovereigns,  etc., 
who  have  visited  The  Anchor  that  a  really  good 
murder  story  would  be  welcome.  All  the  Allied 
Sovereigns  met  there  after  the  1 8  1 4  campaign, 
and  Bliicher,  the  Duchess  of  Oldenburgh, 
George  III,  Queen  Charlotte,  the  Duchess  of 
Kent,  and  Queen  Victoria  all  have  stayed  there ; 
but  Nelson   is   the   old   inn's   popular  hero,  even 


i4o  OLD  INNS 

now.  As  a  Nelson  house  it  was,  and  always 
will  be,  known. 

Here  the  great  little  admiral  breakfasted  (he 
had  slept  the  night  before  at  The  Burford  Bridge 
Inn)  the  day  before  sailing  for  Trafalgar's  Bay, 
and  a  sextant  still  preserved  at  the  inn  is  supposed 
to  be  the  identical  one  Nelson  left  behind  in  his 
haste  to  get  to  Portsmouth. 

Then  in  the  cellars  of  the  inn  we  can  see  the 
rings  and  chains  by  which  the  French  prisoners 
were  secured  when  they  were  sent  from  Por- 
chester  Castle  to  London  to  be  tried ;  and  to  the 
same  rings  numerous  convicts,  bound  for  Botany 
Bay  who  had  come  down  from  London  on  the 
coach — and  this  does  not  sound  very  nice  for  the 
inn  or  the  coach — were  also  secured  for  the 
night   halt. 

Finally,  and  no  inn  is  complete  without  him, 
our  friend  Samuel  Pepys  butts  in  again,  for  in 
1668  he  diaried  The  Anchor,  "having  missed 
his  way  to  Guildford  coming  over  Hindhead." 
And  a  pretty  bad  miss,  too,  to  find  himself  at 
Liphook,  sixteen  miles  from  his  destination. 


A~—  ~/5 


X 


NOT  HER  of  the  coaching  houses  is 
The  Swan  at  Tetsworth  in  Oxford-    Ihte  Sw*?' 

1  etswortn 


/  %  shire.  It  stands  back  from  the 
JL^  J^  London  and  Oxford  road,  like  the 
Liphook  Anchor — a  very  large  house,  whose 
glories  have  now  completely  departed ;  but 
although  cut  up  to-day  into  various  tenements, 
it  still  gives  one  a  very  good  impression  of  the 
old  coaching  inns. 

Also,  at  Aylesbury,  tucked  away  in  a  corner  of 
the  market  square  and  not  easy  to  find  by  the 
ordinary  traveller,  we  find  a  gem  of  an  inn,  with 
a  very  fine  window  in  its  bar. 

The   King  s    Head   no  doubt  at  one  time —    HeadKmgS 
before  it  was  almost  entirely  shut  in  by  surrounding    Aylesbury 
buildings — had  a  much  more  prominent  position 


142 


OLD   INNS 


THE  SWAN, 
TETSWORTH 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


« 


!43 


v 


,1    *         ■  *  ■■     MJ 


THE   KING'S   HEAD, 
AYLESBURY 


144 


OLD  INNS 


in  the  town  market-place,  probably  being  the 
chief  inn  of  the  town  ;  now  it  is  overshadowed 
by  so  many  others  that  its  importance  is  rather 
overlooked. 

The  fine  stained-glass  and  mullioned  window 
is  unique.     I  know  of  no  other  inn  which  has  so 


3** 


r<s 


/ 


THE   BELL, 
STILTON 


fine  a  window,  suggesting  more  some  trade  guild- 
hall of  a  town,  rather  than  an  inn  window. 

With  such  a  very  large  number  of  beautiful 
country  inns,  it  is    almost   impossible    to    touch 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS 


45 


I 


V 


3 


iiff 


Hffip 

mmtmm 
MflffBIH 


c  c 

as  Q 

0  o 

-  p 

a  d 

H  X 


146 


OLD  INNS 


•  x 


' 


THE  WOOLPACK, 
HUNTINGDON   BRIDGE 


upon  them  all  in  one  book,  however  slightly. 
For  this  reason  I  have  been  forced  to  omit 
many  that  should   certainly  have   been   included. 


THE  COUNTRY  INNS  147 

The  old  Boar's  Head  at  Middleton  in 
Lancashire,  the  inn  at  Schole,  The  Maid's  Head 
at  Norwich,  together  with  The  Bell  at  Stilton, 
The  Angel  at  Grantham,  The  George  at  Hunting- 
don, and  The  Feathers  at  Ludlow — all  are  worth 
a  visit,  and  to  include  them  all  would  take  a 
much  larger  volume  than  that  of  these  small,  and 
I  fear  but  slight,  sketches. 

Of  the  London  inns,  now  almost  entirely 
swept  away,  a  most  interesting  collection  of 
drawings  by  Philip  Norman,  which  in  1896 
were  purchased  for  the  nation,  may  be  seen  in 
the  Students'  Room  of  the  Department  of 
Engraving  at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum, 
South  Kensington. 

These  drawings  depict,  among  others,  The 
Queen's  Head  Inn,  The  White  Hart  Inn,  The 
Nag's  Head  Inn,  and  The  King's  Head  Inn  at 
Southwark.  The  Tabard  also  comes  in  the 
collection,  together  with  The  George  and 
many  other  interesting  houses,  records  of  which 
are  all  worthy  of  being  kept  in  our  national 
museums. 


148 


OLD  INNS 


vw; 


s 


« 

■  PA 


^ 


#L  *  ■ 


THE   WHITE   HORSE, 
EATON   SOCCON 


For  the  searcher  after  old  inns,  there  are  two 
or  three  things  he  should  be  equipped  with. 
First  of  all  a  good  digestion,  as  one  does  not 
always  find  Lygon  Arms  fare,  or  Mermaid 
comforts.  Secondly,  a  copy  of  "  Patterson's 
Roads,'    which  will  surely  amuse  and  guide  him 


THE   COUNTRY  INNS 


149 


on  hi$  travels  ;  and  thirdly,  a  delightful  little 
pocket  edition  of  "  Some  Old  English  Inns," 
by  George  T.  Burrows,  which  will  give  him 
.endless  information  about  the  houses  he  visits, 
and  inn-history  in  general. 

That  is  all  he  will  require,  whether  he 
journeys  with  a  knapsack  and  walking-stick,  or  a 
kit-bag  and  motor-car.  Whichever  way  he 
travels,  the  enjoyment  he  will  obtain  will  amply 
repay  the  time  spent  on  his  "  inning." 


V. 


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